


Aleanna: Travelling Hazard

by MundaneMortalMuggle



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Multi-Fandom
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie) Spoilers, Crossover, Eventual Romance, F/M, Fluff, Marvel Universe, Multiverse, Not Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie) Compliant, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Possessive Behavior, Possessive Loki (Marvel), Slow Burn, Some Humor, Tags May Change, The Avengers (2012) Spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-21
Updated: 2019-02-09
Packaged: 2019-08-05 15:38:56
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 68
Words: 107,683
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16370381
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MundaneMortalMuggle/pseuds/MundaneMortalMuggle
Summary: Aleanna's just come into a Marvel AU- (un)intentionally(?) messing with the timeline. Story takes place after Thor: Ragnarok and flows into Avengers: Infinity War territory. I started writing this before IW came out, so things I had planned on happening and the IW story kind of imploded on each other.See Tags for SPOILER WARNINGS!Note: Original Characters are copy write me- all other characters copy write to their respective owners. Written for fun, no infringement intended. Also- Please don't lift my story and post it elsewhere, I chose to post on AO3. Thanks!I'm new to writing on Ao3- please go easy on me! This is part of a story that's been rattling around in my head for ages. The character is not someone I can use for a normal published work (as the story progresses you'll understand why) and I decided to share her with all of you on Ao3. I have no editor, so please ignore my typos and punctuation errors. Story completed, with 107,000+ words written, but will be publishing it as I proofread what I've written.





	1. The Beginning | Bayside, CA - 6:27am PST

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I changed up the writing style several chapters in, and can't decide which I want to keep, so the first few chapters switch POV several times. My first language is English(US) so if the phrasing is awkward, or the dialog set up wrong, I can only blame it on my public school education. (I also have a horrible habit of changing from past to present tense and back again! Sorry!!) O:)

The Beginning | Bayside, CA - 6:27am PST

There was a burst of light and where once there was an empty park, a woman appeared. She took a deep breath, as if the wind had been pulled from her lungs, then looked in horror as light once more burst forth behind her. A man stepped through, a smug look on his face.

“Well, you didn’t really think I would let you leave without saying goodbye?” He taunted.

She shuddered, then shook her head, “You don’t belong here.”

“Funny, you don’t either, yet here we both are… and I’m not going anywhere!”

Her eyes flicked back to him, then she braced herself, hands open and pointed in his direction, “I’ll not allow you to tamper with this world.” With that she focused her power on him, pushing, pushing, until he looked at her with shock.

His surprise turned into rage as he realized what was happening. “I wouldn’t have thought you had it in you!” He shouted angrily. His anger dissolved to smug complacence. “Very well… but if you ever run into the Continuum again, know that we will not be merciful.”

As the man blinked out of existence, the woman swayed and then dropped to the ground. She heard a muffled noise and looked up to see a terrified-looking man on his cell phone. Her groan filled the air and she shook her head, before passing out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I did not mark the fandom where this guy came from (but can you guess what one it was?). I'm not sure it's relevant as there's not much written in later chapters having to do with that fandom. Hope you enjoyed the first chapter. The first few are shorter... things will pick up quickly though.


	2. On To The Pokey | Aleanna - 7:15am PST

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I actually hit post! Eek! Hope you enjoy Chapter 2!

#  _ On To The Pokey | Aleanna - 7:15am PST _

When I woke it was to someone reading me my miranda rights. I shook my head to clear it. My whole body felt as though I’d been tossed from a mountain and hit every tree on the way down. I nodded my understanding to the police officer and coaxed my muscles to relax, the handcuffs clicking into place. No sense in drawing any more attention to myself than I already had. With a hand against the back of my head the officer steered me into the back of the waiting squad car.

The trip to the police station was a quick one, followed by fingerprinting and being stuffed into one of those rooms with the two-way mirror in it. I sighed and waited. After about 40 minutes, two officers walked in, each carrying a cup of what I was assuming was the sludge that passes as coffee in most precincts. One of the officers dropped a folder on the table. He slipped into the chair across the table from me and looked me over. 

“So, lemme tell you a story. We get a call from a guy who was out joggin’ and comes up to a park he’s passed every day for the past year. Much to his surprise he sees, and I quote ‘a chick and dude just appear from nowhere, and then the chick points at the man, there’s a blinding flash and the dude disappears.’”

I do my best not to roll my eyes, but don’t control the reflex completely. The cop slams the flat of his hand against the table. “You think this is funny? We have a witness that says he saw you attack someone.”

I shake my head and look at the guy. I feel so drained, I’m surprised that I can still stay upright. “Are you charging me with anything, officer? I promise, I didn’t harm anyone. Your witness is mistaken.” I’ve found in the past that it’s best to be straightforward with the local authorities. I might not tell the complete truth when asked, but I usually don’t have to lie either. I try to push a little. Pull some feelings of compassion to the surface of the cop, but I hit what feels like a brick wall inside me. It’s then that I know I’m in big trouble. I’ve never depleted my reserves so far before. The best thing at this point would be to stall for time. I eyeball the two officers. “Look, I think maybe I should talk to a lawyer now.”

The two share a look, and with the exchange, it’s evident that they’ve been partners for a while now- I can almost see an entire conversation in that simple look. The chair scrapes as the officer stands and he and his partner walk out of the room.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trial by fire - I missed that there was Rich Text when I posted the first chapter- whoops. More chapters yet tonight!


	3. Aboard The Bus | 9:45am EST

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Confession: I didn't finish Agents of SHIELD. This is an AU. That's my story and I'm sticking to it. ;)

#  _ Aboard The Bus - 9:45am EST _

“Look alive people,” Agent Coulson is just coming through the double doors to the command center of The Bus. “At approximately 06:30 PST SHIELD reported a huge spike in Gamma Radiation off the coast of California. We’re to head there immediately to investigate.”

“Wait,” Skye turns to Coulson, “Gamma Radiation, isn’t that like The Hulk?”

Coulson nods his head, “After the fiasco with Ultron is 2016 and the subsequent loss of Bruce Banner while he was still The Hulk, SHIELD set up a massive web of Gamma Radiation monitoring equipment. Banner is a valuable part of the Avengers Team, we’re doing everything we can to find him.”

He taps the console before him a few times and a grainy satellite image of a woman with pale blonde hair pops up. “What we found is not The Hulk, though. We believe it’s an 0-8-4.”

The team exchange a glance, then Simmons chimes in, “Ahh, Commander, that looks like an ordinary girl. Why does SHIELD suspect she’s an 0-8-4?”

Coulson replies as he touches the console again, showing an image with a bright burst of light with a man’s body partially encased in it. “Because of this. We believe that two of them appeared and that the female did something to the male. She is currently being held at the local police station. We have been charged with the task of bringing her in to SHIELD headquarters. Commander Fury wants her in New York within 8 hours. May, turn us around.” He looks to May and she nods as she heads towards the bridge, then turns to the rest of the crew. “You are dismissed.”


	4. Biding My Time | Aleanna - 11:40am

#  _ Biding My Time | Aleanna - 11:40am _

I’ve been placed in a cell with two other women. If I had to venture a guess, they were picked up for prostitution. After trying to talk to me during the first hour I was in there, they’ve finally given up. I’m starting to feel better. Instead of that been-running-nonstop-for-a-week feeling it’s more like been-running-nonstop-for-a-week- but-managed-to-take-a-5-minute-breather kind of feeling. I’m starting to get fluctuations of emotions for others around me. I’m hoping that means that some of my other abilities have come back as well, but I won’t be able to test that theory out while under this close of supervision.

I’ve forgotten how inefficient the legal system can be in these versions of the 21st century. I know that part of it is the intentional waiting game that is played to get more of a reaction from the accused, but fate seems to be on my side as the delays are stretching on. 

The door swings open and an officer waves me forward. “Come on, someone here for you.”

I rise from the bench and follow the officer. We walk towards the end of the hall where an asian woman stands. She is approximately 40 years old, 5ft. 4” and slim, but athletic. The woman is wearing tight black and I-don’t-take-bullshit attitude that she wears like armor. She sees us and starts walking towards us. “Thank you officer, I can take it from here.”

He doesn’t look pleased, but lets us continue on without him. I look over at her and try to read her as I say in perfect Mandarin Chinese “Pardon my assumption, but I’d like to speak in private to you.” There’s slight shock but I also sense that she understands me so I continue to murmur softly in Chinese. “So, what government agency has taken an interest in me?”

She grabs my elbow to stop my forward momentum and looks me in the eyes, “I’m Agent May with S.H.I.E.L.D. We’ve been charged with taking you to headquarters. If you try anything we will end you.”

“Sounds like quite the adventure,” I reply dryly. With a tug on my arm she starts us moving again. As we walk towards the front I come to a sudden stop. Agent May grinds her teeth and looks at me expectantly. I nod my head to the brunette standing at the front desk and continue in Chinese again. “She’s not exactly human, it would be best if I maintained my distance from her for the time being.” I  _ push _ the tiniest bit of feelings of compassion towards this Agent May and am relieved when I feel compliance, her acceptance of the feelings.

“Skye,” the girl looks up at Agent May’s sharp tone. “Head back to The Bus, we’ll be right with you.” Skye looks confused, opens her mouth to object, but nods and walks towards the doors and out of sight. May looks to me, “I expect a full explanation on why that was necessary when we get to The Bus.”

I nod. I’ll have to figure out how much to share later. In the meantime we step up to the desk where Skye had started the process of getting my personal items released. The woman behind the desk drops a license, my daggers in their wrist sheathes and around two hundred dollars in twenties down. May eyes me questioningly and picks up the license. “Well Aleanna James, let’s get you to HQ.” She tucks the items into a pouch at her side and we head for the door.


	5. But Is It a Short Bus? - 12:15pm

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Five chapters posted. I'll post to chapter ten tonight and see how well my offering is received before posting more (hopefully) tomorrow. Hope you've found this at least semi-entertaining. :)

#  _ But Is It a Short Bus? - 12:15pm _

May drives back to The Bus with Aleanna in tow. She pulls up to the loading bay, but doesn’t drive in. “Okay, now tell me the why.”

Aleanna pauses and sighs, “The best way I can explain it would be to say that my immune system is weak at the moment, and I’ve got no resistance to Skye right now.”

“Resistance?” May frowns in response. “Should we be concerned about Skye infecting the crew with something?”

Aleanna is already shaking her head, “NO, nothing like that… it’s just me that we have to worry about infecting, I guess.”

There’s a pause as May waits for Aleanna to continue with her explanation, and when she doesn’t May barks out, “Infecting with what?!”

“Her powers.” Aleanna looks May in the eyes, “Her abilities, which I can’t actually read right now, but I am positive that she has. I’m… I’m careful about what I expose myself to now. It’s safer for everyone.” Her eyes flick away from May as she says the last bit.

“Fine, how far from Skye do we need to keep you?”

“If I can keep at least 20 feet away from Skye, and avoid contact with anything she’s touched in the last hour I think I’ll be okay. Exposure to Skye may not even be an issue within the next 5 hours. I don’t know, it depends…”

May opens a comm, “Fitz, you guys seen Skye?”

Fitz responds after just a moment, “Aye, she came in ‘bout 10 minutes before you. Sounded offended by somethin’ you said. Everything peachy with you two?” 

May rolls her eyes and comms through to Fitz again, “You need to tell Skye to head to the Command Center, and wait there. I’ll be bringing our guest onboard momentarily. She needs to be in place in two minutes.”

“Understood, Fitz out,” is the reply.

May waits the designated two minutes then pulls the SUV into the back cargo ramp of The Bus. She parks, then walks around, opening the passenger door. “Lets go.” 

Aleanna slides from her seat, handcuffs raise to her chest. May grabs her wrist and pulls her to the spiral staircase. “Let’s get you tucked away.” They walk up the staircase and to the interrogation room. May unlocks one handcuff, slips the cuff through the brace in the table and then relocks the cuff. “Sit tight.”

May comes out of the Interrogation Room and heads off Skye who is walking her way. “No, 20 feet from the interrogation room at all times.”

Skye pokes her thumb in the direction of the stairwell, “But I was just going to-”

May cuts in, “No Skye. Our 0-8-4 took one look at you and she knew that you weren’t ‘exactly human.’ I think it best if we keep you away from her for the time being.”

Coulson walks into the Command Center from the lounge. “What’s this about our 0-8-4 IDing Skye?”

“Just what I said Sir, we rounded the corner at the police station and she said Skye wasn’t  _ exactly human _ . Then she asked to be kept away from Skye for the time being. She made it sound like she would take on Skye’s powers if she got too close.” May pulled Aleanna’s belongings from her bag. “Here’s what the police pulled off her.” 

Skye grabs the license from the pile and looks to Agent Coulson “Should I run her license and see what S.H.I.E.L.D. has on her?”

Coulson nods and Skye takes the card and heads to the lounge to work. He gathers the money and then points to the daggers. “You may as well bring those down to Fitz-Simmons and see what they can make of them.” He turns to walk away. “Let’s get this thing in the air. We’ve got a deadline to keep.”

May frowns and looks to Agent Coulson. “Sir, are you going to question her?”

Coulson gives her a slight smile. “I’m just going to go say hello… see if she has anything in particular to say.”


	6. Papers Please | Aleanna - Minutes later

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah, I like naming my chapters silly things. =D

#  _ Papers Please | Aleanna - Minutes later _

The door opens and a guy in his mid 50s walks in. He walks to the chair opposite me and sits down. “I’m agent Coulson, you must be Aleanna.” I nod but don’t say anything, so he continues, dropping my cash on the table and sliding it towards me. “You travel light.”

My eyes flick to the twenties and then back up to his, “I’ve found it leads to less questions if I openly carry the necessities, and pick up anything else along the way.” I don’t tell him about the dimensional pocket, and that I’m carrying more than I appear to. I’m also not lying, I’ve picked up several things ‘along the way.’

“Six inch daggers are necessary for traveling?”

“They are seven and a quarter inch Elven knives, and I expect them back in their original condition when your lab rats are done poking at them. They were a gift; priceless and irreplaceable” I roll my eyes and frown at Agent Coulson. Surprise leaks from his emotions, but I’m not sure how he can be that surprised. The lab is visible from where we parked on the cargo ramp.

“And you’re Elven?” is his response.

A smile lights my face, “In a manner of speaking, you could say I’m... Elvish.”

“Tell me about yourself, Aleanna.” Agent Coulson gives me an expectant look.

“Agent Coulson, have you been order to interrogate me?” I pay close attention to his vitals, my ears listening to his heart rate and my eyes focused on his expression.

“Of course. Think of this more as me getting to know the passengers on my plane.” The lie slips easily off his tongue.

“Lie, but a good one. The first part was false, the second true. Should I return the favor? One falsehood, then truth?” I angle my wrist and twist, slipping the handcuff free. “I am here because it benefits me.” I twist my other wrist free and set the cuffs gently on the table between us. “I pose no immediate threat to your crew.”

I feel Coulson’s unease, and force myself to remain completely still. He raises, reaches across the table and picks up the handcuffs, then exits the room. The door thuds shut behind him, lock engaging. I slip my cash into the back pocket of my jeans. The mattress on the floor looks slightly more comfortable, so I drift over to it and sit down.


	7. Curiouser and Curiouser - Approximately 4 hours to deadline

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Shooort chapter, but I started writing each scene change as a chapter, and now they're all labeled and well... it's going to stay a short chapter. =/

#  _ Curiouser and Curiouser - Approximately 4 hours to deadline _

Coulson is in his office working through some paperwork when there’s a tap on the door, then Skye pops her head in. 

“Got a minute?” she asks. He waves her in and she sits across from him, handing him a tablet. “I did a search on Aleanna James. You’ll never guess what I found.” She reaches over and touches an icon bringing up three images of Aleanna, the one from her license, and two that look slightly younger. “This is her license photo and these are her during her college years. She studied four years at MIT and later went to Harvard for two years.

“Now here’s where it get interesting. Other than these three photos I can’t find anything else on her. No high school graduation photo, no social media accounts. It’s like she didn’t exist until the year 2004. That was odd, so I kept digging. The address on her license raised a flag in the S.H.I.E.L.D. database. Coulson, she’s got a S.H.I.E.L.D. safehouse listed as her home address on her license.”

Coulson stares at the pictures on the tablet, without responding.

“Did you hear what I just said,” Skye exclaims. “How would she even get the address for a “S.H.I.E.L.D. safehouse? The addresses don’t even populate in normal-”

“Thank you Skye, that will be all.” Coulson cuts her off. Skye nods, and turns to the door without another word.


	8. Lab Rats! - Approximately 3.5 hours to deadline

#  _ Lab Rats! - Approximately 3.5 hours to deadline _

“Fitz, you won’t believe what I’ve found, or rather what I haven’t found.” Simmons grins. “It turns out these knives are made of an unlisted element. A metal of unknown origin. Our 0-8-4 was carrying a pair of 0-8-4s!” She chuckles at her own pun.

Fitz tries, but fails to keep the smile from breaking across his face. “That’s awful, Jemma.” He smiles fondly at her.

“Cute.” A voice pipes up from the corner, Aleanna is standing there.

Fitz’s eyes widen. “OH BLOODY-”

“Relax,” Aleanna cuts in. “I’m not really here. Or rather, physically, I’m still tucked in, safe and sound in your fancy interrogation room.” She walks forward through a cart and stands in the table looking at Jemma’s notes. She points to the description of the sheaths. “Actually they are arm sheaths, made of leather from a 2 year old rabbit. It was originally supposed to be dragonhide, but I refused to carry anything that would draw that much attention.” She looks expectantly at Jemma.

Jemma squeaks out a “thanks” but it sounds more like a question than a statement. She carefully changes her notes. 

Fitz takes a step forward. “You shouldn’t be here, physically or otherwise. You don’t have the clearance to leave the interrogation room.”

There’s a heavy sigh from Aleanna, “Probably not.” She admits, then shrugs and fades away until she disappears from view.

Jemma’s eyes get larger, “That was… unexpected.”

Fitz grins at her, replying “Well then, let’s see if the D.W.A.R.F.s picked up anything.” He taps on the touchscreen in front of him.

Jemma’s eyes get larger, “You turned them on, while she was in here?”

“Aye, when you’re a resourceful man of astounding bravery, you think of things like that. And,” he taps a few more times, “Look at that, there’s definitely some interesting electrical fluctuations, and they spike when she fades from the room. My guess would be there’s an equally large spike when she enters. I think with a little time, we should be able to track her movements if she continues popping in on us.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kind of a cheesy chapter, but it wandered into my head and I put it down. Just a little filler before everything gets serious.


	9. The Bus | Command Center - less that 3 hours to deadline

#  _ The Bus | Command Center - less than 3 hours to deadline _

Agent Coulson stands before his team. “I want a full report from everyone on what they’ve discovered so far. Our 0-8-4 seems to be cooperation for the time being, but I don’t want to rely solely on her good favor.” He looks down at the drone sitting on the table. “Fitz, I assume there’s a good reason for the active drone sitting in on our brief.”

Fitz nods, “Sir, I think I can track the 0-8-4’s movements with it. It seems that-”

“Thank you Fitz,’ he points to the side screen with the feed from the interrogation room streaming on it. I think we have her covered for the time being. Skye, show the team what you found out about her background.”

Skye walks forward and transfers the information from her tablet to the large screen. “These are the only pictures of the 0-8-4 we have on record. Three pictures of someone in a world where technology is basically everywhere is completely unheard of. If I had to guess, I’d say she came here around when the first picture is dated.” She holds up the license between two fingers and waves it towards the group. “After all, how many years can you go without state id?”

Fitz looks down at the tri-tablet in his hand and back up to Skye. He reaches out and snatches the license from her, placing it in front of the drone. “Hold the phone, I think we’ve just found another very interesting bit of technology. I’m getting low level energy readings from this. Check this out, Jemma.”

She walks over to Fitz and reads over his shoulder. “Yes, that’s brilliant. Even smaller than the ones we use. I wonder if we could-”

“Fitz-Simmons?” Coulson looks to the both expectantly “You want to clue in the rest of us?”

“The card appears to use similar technology as our tracking business cards” Fitz starts.

“Only instead of picking up signals from other devices and sending the signal to another source…” Jemma looks to Fitz her eyes wide with excitement.

Fitz looks from her to Coulson, “We believe that the card is programmed to upload pre-designated information into various databases.”

Jemma cuts in, “Probably when the license is scanned to run her information.”

Skye smiles. “Which is more than likely why the address we have for her is a S.H.I.E.L.D. safehouse. The card populated a list of addresses that were least likely to raise a flag when run through the police mainframe and added just enough information about her to make it appear that she was a US Citizen.”

“Fitz-Simmons, you’re up next. What have we got on the daggers?”

“Commander,” Jemma looks to Fitz for help, then plows ahead. “While we were in the lab the 0-8-4 dropped in. I mean, she wasn’t there physically, more like a mirage.”

At her pleading look Fitz chimes in, “Right sir, she was walking through to tables and whatnot, she was aware of what was around her, but she was not confined by the free areas of the room.”

Coulson frowned, “That does sound strange. There are some Asgardians who are able to create the illusion of being elsewhere, but the illusions break up when they are touched by anything solid.” In a seemingly subconscious movement, Coulson rubs his thumb against his chest. He nods for Fitz to keep going.

“Well we managed to get a few readings from the drones before she disappeared. There’s a bit of energy fluctuation at the moment of her departure. I believe we can track the fluctuations.”

“Anything else?”

Jemma carefully sets down a bundled up cloth. She opens it up to reveal the knives. “These are made of an unknown element. We have nothing like them on Earth. I also ran it through known alien materials. It’s not Asgardian, Chitauri or any other known alien material.” She slips soft white gloves on her hands and pulls one of the knives from its sheath. “Here’s where things get interesting.” She points to the words trailing down the blade. “We ran this language through the S.H.I.E.L.D. database and came up blank. Then,” She tries to pause dramatically, but then goes on in a rush, “we decided to run a broader search through the internet. It came back with a match.” She lets out an excited little squeak. “It is the language of the  _ ‘Sindar’ _ and it says  _ ‘not all those who wander are lost.’ _ ”

Skye shakes her head, “Wait a minute, I recognize that, that’s J.R.R. Tolkien- The Lord of the Rings. Are you saying we’ve got a LARPing alien sitting in the isolation room?” She looks at the blank faces around her. “C’mon guys LARP- Live Action Role Play, it’s- nevermind. So she’s got some sort of alien hard-on for Tolkien?”

Jemma is practically bouncing as she sets the knife down on the soft cloth and slips off the gloves. She turns on the table and a 3D projection of the knives appears. She waves her hands around the image, and it turns the image around to show the writing on both blades. “We searched for a match on the writing on the second blade. This one was  _ not  _ a well known phrase from a novel. But we found,” she pinches then raises her fingers a few times. Several parts of the lettering are glowing. “These letters or umm symbols match, which suggests that the other blade is also in  _ ‘Sindarin.’ _ ”

Coulson nods, a thoughtful look on his face. “Great job team. Let me know if you come up with anything else. We’ll give a copy of our findings to Commander Fury when we arrive. May, slight alteration in course, Fury wants us to head to the Avengers Facility in Upstate New York. You are all dismissed.”


	10. The Bus | Arrival at Avengers Facility, Upstate New York - 12 minutes to deadline

#  _ The Bus | Arrival at Avengers Facility, Upstate New York - 12 minutes to deadline _

Agents Coulson and May bring the 0-8-4 off the plane. She is once more in handcuffs and the agents are on either side of her. Fury meets them with six of his own agents halfway to the building. He nods to the agents and they form up around the woman. He waits until they lead her inside before he speaks. “Any trouble transporting the 0-8-4?”

Coulson shakes his head, “No Sir, the journey was mostly quiet. It does appear that she can project her likeness away from her person- our lab crew had a bit of a shock about halfway here.” He reaches into his pocket and pulls out the driver’s license. “They were able to determine that this is more than it appears. As far as we were able to determine, it has the ability to upload information into databases. We’ve included the notes that Fits-Simmons have on the device.” He pulls out a USB drive and drops it into Fury’s outstretched hand. Fury drops both into his pocket. “I’ll send my completed report before we depart.” Coulson nods to May.

She holds the sheathed fighting knives out to Fury. “Commander, these were also on the 0-8-4 when she was found. Simmons wrote a report on them as well.”

He slides one from the sheath and looks at the alien-looking lettering. “My people will take a look at these right away. Thank you agents, you are dismissed.”

With a nod he turns from them and walks to the building.


	11. Make Yourself at Home, You're Going to Be Here a While | Avengers Facility, Upstate New York - Deadline

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter ten was short- here's chapter eleven too. =)

#  _ Make Yourself at Home, You’re Going to Be Here a While | Avengers Facility, Upstate New York - Deadline _

I get deposited into a glass cell with a bunk in the back. There’s nothing else inside. I sit in the center of the room and start my meditation process. It’s been 76 hours since I last meditated and I’m feeling weary. Within 10 minutes there’s a tap on the outside of the glass. The commander, Agent Fury is standing outside. I rise to my feet and walk to the glass so we are facing one another. The glass is equal distance between us.

He holds my license in his hand, looks down at it, then at me. “Alayna James, I’m Directory Fury. I’ve got some questions for you.”

I pull a face- I hate when people pronounce it A-lay-NA. “It’s pronounced ‘Ah-LAY-AH-nah’ actually. What questions would you pose?”

“‘AhlayAHnnah’ then. What brings you to Earth?”

“Visiting, or re-visiting would perhaps be the best way to phrase it.”

“When’s the last time you were on Earth?” Fury questions.

“In the mid 2000s,” is the best response I can give him.

“So you’ve been away a little over a decade?” he clarifies.

“Away? I would guess more like two and a half thousand years.”

“Time seems to run a little sideways for you. It’s the year 2018 now,” he says gruffly.

“You’re correct on both counts,” I stretch my lips into a tight smile.

“There are reports of another 0-8-4 being with you the first few moments we recorded you as being on Earth. What happened to the male 0-8-4?” he demands.

There’s not much I can say that’s true and keeps from revealing too many truths. “I,” I pause to try to figure out how to word it, “I am a traveller- a tourist perhaps. When I was leaving from a previous sightseeing adventure, I failed to notice that I had a umm hitchhiker tagging along. When I arrived I sent the interloper back where he belonged.” I’ve been watching Director Fury as I say this. He’s hard to read; extremely closed off emotionally. 

“That’s a very interesting story,” he finally responds, “but it looked very much like you destroyed the man.”

“Director, he came to no lasting bodily harm, I simply removed him from this version of the megaverse and shifted him back to his own reality. You have to understand that having a ‘Q’ here would be devastating. They generally patrol their own. If there are no others…”

“A ‘Q’,” Fury questions.

“Yes, from the Continuum.” I reply.

“Continuum… Ms. James, I’m not sure I’m following.”

“Directory Fury, I’m not asking you to understand. Just believe me when I say that he didn’t belong here, I sent him on his way home, and I did not in any way harm him. As a rule, I am very careful not to disturb the natural timeline of the universe I visit.”

“Universe- before you said megaverse. Mind filling me in?” Fury crosses his arms and frowns at me.

“Megaverse, omniverse, multiverse. There’s several different names for all these layers of the universe. It might be hard for you to believe, but there are things out there beyond your comprehension.” I’m crossing my arms and frowning in return now. “This world we are on is not the only one in existence. I know that S.H.I.E.L.D. is aware of other worlds; Asgard, Jotunheim, Vanaheim. What you don’t understand is that there’s an Earth where S.H.I.E.L.D. doesn’t exist, another where Hydra has been eliminated, one where everything has flooded because the ice caps have melted.” I step closer to the glass, less than an inch of space between it and my face. I raise my eyebrow at Director Fury. “So while it might be hard for you to comprehend, it is the truth, whole and completely unaltered.”

Directory Fury takes a step back, then turns towards the door, he pauses before he gets there, but does not turn to me, “One more question, if you are as careful not to disturb things as you tried to say earlier, how is it you came to be in the hands of a government agency, whom at this very moment are analyzing your weapons and technology? For one who is so proactive in keeping from affecting this  _ world’s _ timeline, you seem to be making a very big impact.”

I sigh, knowing he isn’t going to like my answer, “That is something I cannot reveal at this time.”

He casts one more glance my way, and I feel a sudden impulse to give him something. My feel that presence here has pulled his attention from some very important signs, signs that he would normally see and respond to. “Director? Something big is coming- possibly world-ending big. I would be gathering my heroes. Actually  _ you _ would be gathering your heroes, had I not made an unexpected entry into your life. Pool your best minds, gather the superpowered population, call on old allies and friends. Build ...an army. Earth is in for a rough journey before everything is said and done.”

I return to the floor and sit in my meditation pose. Fury casts one more look in my direction and leaves.

  
I remain in the meditation pose for another 20 minutes, but I am too distracted to fully drop into  _ silent consciousness _ . I stand up and begin the first kata of Shotokan Karate.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm hoping everyone knows what the "continuum" is from. I wanted to have Aleanna coming from a reality that I was fairly sure I wasn't going to need to send her back to - thus that particular fandom. ;) I'm still hoping I haven't written her into a corner. Writing multiple universes and avoiding plot-holes is hard.


	12. Self-Fulfilling Prophesies | Avengers Facility Command Center

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tony is so good at listening to orders...

#  _ Self-Fulfilling Prophecies | Avengers Facility Command Center  _

Tony Stark is watching a monitor when Directory Fury comes in. He pops some sort of granola into his mouth before turning to Fury. “She seems nice. A little bit on the doom and gloom side, but then again, I’d be too, if the end of the world was coming.”

Fury frowns at the crumbs that Stark is getting on the touchpad in front of him. “You aren’t actually buying this apocalypse nonsense are you?”

Tony shrugs at Fury, “Maybe, maybe not. It might not be a bad time to check in on Steve and see how he’s doing though, maybe let him out on probation, you know, for good behavior?”

Fury’s scowl tightens further. “Oh, and what else might it be a good time for?”

“Look, all I know is a few years ago when Thor left, we all said we’d look into who might be working behind the scenes to gather all the infinity stones, maybe it’s time to recall the Avengers and… compare notes.” Stark turns from the monitor and walks to the door.

“Tony,” Fury calls behind him. Tony looks back at him. “I don’t want you anywhere near Ms. James. The 0-8-4 is off limits until we do a full analysis on her.” Tony waves a sloppy two fingered salute towards Fury and continues on his way.

Fury curses and looks at the agent on security. “I want to know the moment he goes down to lockdown.”

“Understood, Sir.”

Fury is deep in thought for a few minutes then stalks from the room. “I’ll be in the lab.”


	13. Distractions in the Lab

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aww, got my first Kudo! Thanks you're a sweety!
> 
> I realized after I posted the last chapter that I forgot to mention in this AU Steve got locked up after Civil War, the rest of the Avengers are out and adhering to the Accords.

#  _ Distractions in the Lab _

Fury walks through Lab C and comes up to the agents working on analyzing the knives that Aleanna had on her when she arrived. 

“Agents Parkins, Williams, how are things progressing.”

Parkins quickly speaks before Williams can, “Everything is great Directory Fury, we’re just finishing the preliminary analysis.”

“Good,” Fury turns to the other agent. “Agent Williams, earlier today when I handed you these weapons you were already on the way to the lab. Might I inquire as to why you were down here. If I remember correctly your shift wouldn’t have started for another 25 minutes.”

Agent Williams looks down at her toes and back up at Directory Fury. “Yes Sir, that’s correct. I was going to Lab D actually. I’m friends with Agent Yager and she was going to take her 20 minute break to visit with me before my shift started.”

“Lab D,” Directory Fury frowns in concentration for a moment. “They’re working on the Space Com Technology, aren’t they?”

“That’s right, Emma, that is err Agent Yager’s had a breakthrough in SpaCT. She thinks that within the next few days they’ll finally complete the connection.”

Fury crosses his arms and stares at Agent Williams until she squirms. “Agent, I want you to transfer to SpaCT and work with Agent Yager. Take a 20 minute break, theorize, formulate, and otherwise brainstorm with her. Let’s see if we can’t get a message out to Asgaard within the next 48 hours.” Agent Williams nods to the director. “Dismissed.”

Fury turns to Agent Parkins. “Agent, what were you scheduled to work on today, before I brought in the 0-8-4?”

Agent Parkins tucks his hands behind his back and stands up taller. “Sir, I would have been re-calibrating the machines in Lab E, they’re scheduled to maintenance next week, but I figured that I could get them done today since I had a few free hours.”

“I see.” Fury nods, “Keep working on these,” Fury points to the knives. “I want to know what we’re up against. That will be all.” Fury leaves the agent to his work.


	14. Expected Visitors

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think I mentioned before that in this AU SHIELD is going strong...

#  _ Expected Visitors _

Tony wanders into the prison facility. He’s still working his way through a bag of granola. He nods to Aleanna in greeting and puts some more granola into his mouth. “I doubt I’ll be allowed to talk for long before the guard dogs separate us, but I wanted to come see what all the fuss is about.” He inspects a piece of granola and then pops it into his mouth. 

Aleanna smiles at Tony. She has stopped the kata she was working through when he came in. “I wouldn’t say that. No one is aware of your presence down here. As far as anyone in this facility is concerned, you took the elevator to the main level and went to your personal suite.” She grins. “And I am just finishing katas and working through forms.” She puts her finger to her lips, “I may have hacked the S.H.I.E.L.D. mainframe.”

Tony raises an eyebrow, he is walking around inspecting the edges of the holding cell. “How are you liking lockdown? Not the fanciest accommodations, but still better than some prisons.”

She shrugs. “I’d rather be free to roam, but I’m patient, I can wait.”

Tony touches a small computer screen on his wrist and brings up the prison feed from Command Center Security. It shows Aleanna punching and kicking through a form, just as she said. He frowns at Aleanna. “I would love to know how you managed that from in there.”

She walks up to the glass that divides them. “You might have to get used to disappointment if you spend any amount of time around me.” She smiles apologetically. “Forgive me, where are my manners.” One hand flattens to her chest, the other lifts in the air next to her, and her head ducks forward in a bow. “Aleanna O’Dae at your service. And you are?”

Tony frowns at the fact that she doesn’t recognize him. “Ah, Tony Stark, genius billionaire playboy philanthropist” He steps forward a lifts a hand. “I’d shake your hand but...” he taps on the glass with a knuckle then shrugs apologetically. 

Aleanna’s smile seems to brighten the room. “Yes, I see.” She turns, walks a few paces, then turns back, “And if you were in my shoes, how would you go about convincing the umm good guys that you aren’t here to cause trouble?” She sighs. “I usually have more say in how I introduce myself to-” she stops suddenly and looks at Tony. “Directory Fury is on his way here, if you hurry you can leave before he turns the corner. If you would like to stay, I can shield you if you move over there,” She points to a post at the far side of the room. 

Tony stands unmoving for moment. Aleanna widens her eyes at him. “The third choice would be getting caught in here…” 

He walks over to the post, then holds his palms out at his sides as if to say “tada!”. Aleanna shakes her head and holds back a smile. She closes her eyes in concentration. There’s a shimmering in the air before Tony. She then drops both her hands flat in front of her on the floor, sending a pulse of energy through the material. She suddenly shifts up into a low block, then roundhouse kick, then forward into an ax kick, picking up on the form she was working through on the security feed.

Tony sits in silence as he watches her swiftly move from one strike to the next. She winks in his direction only seconds before Directory Fury walks through he door.

“Aleanna,” he stops in front of the glass.

She stops her form and turns to him. “Director Fury.”

“Would you like to tell me why I’ve just switched an agent from working on your knives to working on contacting Asgard? That is what you hinted at, isn’t it?”

Aleanna nods, but remains silent.

“So, we’ll contact Asgard and they’ll tell us what? They found out who’s been working in the shadows to steer us one way or the other the past few years?”

Aleanna is shaking her head before he even finishes speaking. “No, you won’t contact Asgard.”

“Excuse me? We  _ won’t  _ contact Asgard? Would you mind telling me why you thought we should be wasting resources on a failed venture?”

She stands at attention, with her hands behind her back and looks Director Fury in the eye, “No, Sir, I never said it was a failed venture, I simply said that you _ wouldn’t contact Asgard _ .”

Fury scowls at her. “I suppose that’s suppose to clear things up?”

“Directory Fury, what do I have to do to prove to you that I’m not your enemy?” 

“How ‘bout you start by giving me something I can use. Stop speaking in riddles and just tell me one damn thing that would prove you’re looking out for humanity.”

Aleanna’s eyes go out of focus and they shift back and forth as if she’s seeing something that isn’t there. She slowly focuses on Directory Fury again. “The agent you have working on my fighting knives is working on creating replicas of them so he can steal them. He’s got a client that he works with from time to time, and he was told that if he can provide alien artifacts that they would offer him 3.2 million dollars and immunity from the law.”

The scowl on Director Fury’s face intensifies. “Agent Parkins is a trusted member of S.H.I.E.L.D., do you have any way to substantiate your claim? Also, if I recall you mentioned not impacting the timeline you are in- giving up a traitor would very much affect the timeline, I would imagine.”

“It would, however, your agent would have died 35 minutes ago when he would have attempted to calibrate a machine, but carelessly let a tool slip. His death would have been rather painless.”

Fury takes a step back and looks at Aleanna. “So life in a S.H.I.E.L.D. prison is a much less severe punishment?”

Aleanna nods. “Yes, I suppose life in prison would be less severe. As to proof, if you let me out and bring me to the lab I can prove the knives are now fakes.” She sighs when she sees Directory Fury’s face. “Or you could have another technician run a full spectrum analysis on the knives. I would be ready to grab your Agent Parkins as soon as you do though. He has the knives in a hidden compartment in his laptop bag and he is prepared to leave at a moment’s notice.”

Fury narrows his eye, then turns from the room. “If this proves to be true, I will consider letting you out.” He walks away.

Aleanna waits for a moment, walking back a forth in the cell, then touches the floor with both hands for a few seconds. She waves her hand in front of Tony and the air again shimmers in front of him. 

He walks forward. “Neat trick. Any chance you can tell me how you kept Director Fury from seeing me?”

She shrugs at Tony. “Magic.”

Tony snorts, “I don’t believe in magic.”

“I know, and that’s exactly why I told you how I did it.”

Tony shakes his head. “Everything has a scientific reasoning behind how it works, even things we don’t understand yet.”

Aleanna shrugs, “I can honestly say that there are things that I myself cannot explain in scientific terms, and I have seen and understand some very ‘out of this world’ things.”

Tony squints at Aleanna, “You know from what I’ve seen so far, I’m am curious about one thing.”

“What’s that?” she responds.

“Why are you still sitting in that cage?” Tony steps right up to the glass and gives her a challenging look. “If I had to guess you’ve got a dozen ways to get out of there.”

Aleanna walks forward until she’s just on the other side of the glass from Tony. “What kind of a monster would Directory Fury think I am, if I show him all that I am capable of? It is easier for me if he counted me as an ally rather than an enemy.”

She reaches her hand to touch the glass. Her hand slowly shifts through the glass until she lightly touches her finger to his chest. “You are very perceptive though.” She pulls her hand back through to her side of the glass, then taps it with a knuckle to show it’s solid.

“One more question, why did you introduce yourself as Aleanna O’Dae to me, when Fury has been calling you Aleanna James?” Tony cocks a brow at me.

“Directory Fury called me the name that is on my license, instead of asking my name. I merely didn’t correct his oversight. I use Aleanna James as a traveling name. Most people here think of me as Ms. James already.”

Tony ponders a moment. “And O’Dae?”

“My birth name… and an indication of my family’s Irish heritage.”

Tony nods a bit. They both fall silent for a moment.

“Director Fury will be back in about ten minutes. I’m afraid he’s not going to be very pleased with me when he arrives either.” Aleanna’s eyes flick up to Tony’s and back again. “Are you staying for my reprimand?”

Tony shakes his head, “Disciplinary hearings, especially Fury’s, have never been my thing. I’ve got something I want to check on anyway. It’s been enlightening.”

Tony walks out of the room and Aleanna is already editing the feed so he can make it to his destination undetected.


	15. Consequences. | Aleanna

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I almost deleted out big chunks of this chapter, but I decided to let it go as is. Hopefully you enjoy the multiverse explanation.

#  _ Consequences. | Aleanna _

I wait a bit longer, and Director Fury comes back in with six agents around him. They are dressed for guard duty. “Aleanna, you knew he would commit suicide didn’t you?”

I keep a neutral face. “Director, so good to see you again.”

“Answer the question.” He responds.

“Yes, I knew that he would die. I would like to point out that he was much too much of a coward to kill himself over getting caught. He was under the impression that the pill he was taking would steady his heartbeat and several other physiological indices and keep S.H.I.E.L.D. from being able to tell if he was lying.”

“His employer tricked him into it.”

I nod, “His employer had a very thorough _ scorched earth _ defense set in place. You won’t find anything to indicate who the employer was either.”

“Aleanna, I want to let you out, I really do. I just don’t think I can fully trust you. The lies and half-truths have to stop. And no, that doesn’t mean avoid telling me things altogether. Now I’m leaving, unless you have anything beneficial you’d like to share.” Fury stares at me a moment, before turning towards the door. “Very well, I’ll see yo-”

“Mithril,” I cut him off. He turns back to me and is facing me on the other side of the glass. I’m going to tell him more than I have revealed to any entity I’ve contacted since the beginning of my travels, but my instincts tell me that I need to allow myself a little vulnerability if I’m going to get anywhere with Directory Fury. “Could I-” I hesitate trying to think of what I want to say. “Could we please talk privately.” Fury raises a hand to his crew, but keeps his eyes on me. The agents turn as one unit and walk through the door and down the hallway. When they are out of earshot I speak again. “My weapons, the Elven fighting knives, are made of mithril. It’s an element that is not found on this world, nor can it be duplicated.”

“I’ve lived over 2,500 years,” I continue, “but I’ve not aged a day over 24. Not that knowing that is very beneficial to you, Director.” I think a moment before I begin again, Fury raises an eyebrow and waits. “The things I carry all have a- umm, that is, they’re protected. You’re wasting your time trying to research them. The data will disappear and the individuals who did the research will not remember any details either.” I watch his frown deepen and feel anger rise in him, but continue on. “I set various safeguards in place after I had some of my own technology used against me.” I wait for a reaction from him, but he says nothing. I begin to speak quieter. “There’s a computer virus of sorts running through your database. All records of my time here will be eliminated once I leave.”

I feel Fury’s rage burst through a moment before he speaks. “Don’t want to damage our timeline, so you remove yourself from it altogether when you leave?”

I put my head in my hands. “Would you do any different, if you knew that your technology in the wrong hands could be devastating? Would you allow evil and corrupt individuals the chance to use it to harm the world?” I make tight fists and bring them down to my sides. “Those are things I am unwilling to chance.” He starts to talk, but I interrupt. “Directory Fury, you cannot tell me that S.H.I.E.L.D. for all it’s secretiveness and levels of disclosure, has never been compromised.”

“We have had… an infiltration before.” he concedes.

We stand there in silence for a little while. “What else would you like to know?” I ask quietly.

Fury thinks a moment, then asks, “Why  _ my  _ Earth, and why now?”

“I’ve never met the Avengers. I was curious. I wasn’t even sure they existed beyond stories in certain realities.” I hesitate before continuing. “The ‘when’… was not intentional. I was actually aiming for after the conflict that is coming. I usually travel solo. When my trip was hijacked by the Q and I was forced to carry him along, I didn’t move as far forward in time in this reality as I had intended.” I feel confusion from him and try to better explain myself. “The different realities don’t run on the same timeline. In the one I came from it was roughly the year 2370 when I left that timeline, but it was running parallel to roughly this timeline’s year 1995. Instead of moving sideways and all the way forward, I just shifted sideways into this reality, without the complete shift forward from the year 1995. I ended up in mid 2018, instead of at the end of 2019, where I was intending to go. The Enterprise was on it’s way to-”

Fury jerks his head at that. “ _ Enterprise? _ Now I know why the ‘Q’ sounded familiar. You’re telling stories about Star Trek, a TV show. You’ll have to excuse me if I don’t believe that you spent time visiting  _ space, the final frontier _ before you came here.”

I raise my hands palms forward in front of me in a gesture meant to mollify. “Please, Director. I know it doesn’t sound feasible. I…” I try to think of a way to prove where I’ve been. “How about-” I break off and hesitate. “Another truth for you, Director. I have access to a great deal more than I’ve let on.” I reach into my pocket dimension and pull out a phaser I replicated before I left that reality. I walk over to the cot in the back of the cell, take the pillow and toss it to the floor. “This is a phaser. I trust if you’ve seen the tv show, you’ve seen a version of these.” I’ve walked to the front of the cell and turn the phaser so he can see the weapon. “This is at max setting.” I say as I adjust the setting and point it to the pillow. With one press of the button the pillow puffs out of existence- a few particles float into the air as they burn up. I hold it out in my open hand for him to look at a few moments longer, and then lock it back out and tuck it into the pocket dimension.

I allow him time to think before I speak again. “Sometimes the realities run close enough together that a person who is willing, is able to be influenced by another reality. They create books, art, tv shows and whatnot that reflect this alternate reality.” I say in a hushed voice. “Sometimes there’s a force that’s so strongly established that it exists over many realities. Many times the force is not exactly the same in two realities, so we have variations of the same entity in different realities. Myths and legends that seem to contradict themselves when compared across various media… that’s where they come from.”

Fury pauses, then asks, “Why didn’t you tell me all this when we first brought you in? Why keep this to yourself?”

“You still haven’t gathered your heroes, Director. I didn’t lie when I said something was coming, and-” I swallow and a shiver runs through me. “And I am afraid.” I pause after I say this, surprised to feel the emotion. I shake it off and continue. “I usually plan my travels around the biggest world events, so I avoid damaging what has been pre-established as the most likely events of a timeline. Because of Q, I am running straight at this one, and I do not have the strength to leave before ...he... arrives.”

Fury stares me down for another minute or so, then comes to a decision. “I’m going to let you out, but know that you are on a very short leash. If I so much as suspect that you are hiding something from me I will lock your ass back up in here faster than you can say whiplash. Are we understood?”

I nod. “Director Fury, in the spirit of full disclosure, you should probably know that trouble has a way of finding me. I don’t go looking for it, but it generally shows up on my doorstep when I least expect it.”

“Fantastic,” is his only reply. He presses a series of buttons on the touchpad near the door and it slides open. I step out next to him when he motions for me. “Let’s get you set up in some different accommodations.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, we learn some details about Aleanna. It will be several chapters before we actually dig into her origin story. I've really enjoyed writing her, and hope that you find this story at least semi-amusing.


	16. Neighbors

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Vision makes a guest appearance in this chapter. We'll get to see a little of Wanda as well in a later chapter...

#  _ Neighbors _

Tony is leaving his room when Director Fury and Aleanna walk up to the suite kiddie-corner from his. He lifts an eyebrow at the arrangement. “There goes my privacy. No more walking to the kitchen for midnight snacks in the nude I guess.”

Aleanna looks to Fury and he fills her in, pointing down the hall. “Turn right at that corner and it’s the kitchen and dining area, left is the common living space, straight is where the rest of the Avengers stay when they are in residence.”

“And this,” Tony cuts in, “Is- I’m sorry, was- my private wing, because Thor is off adventuring in space and Cap is in the klink.”

Aleanna smiles brightly. “Don’t change your habits on my account. Nudity doesn’t bother me.” She turns to Director Fury, missing the raise of Tony’s eyebrow in response. “Thank you, Director.”

He nods. “I’ll have your other things brought up to you from the lab. No sense in wasting my peoples’ time,” he says, somewhat irritably. He walks back the way he came from, trench coat spinning out slightly at the speed of his turn.

Tony starts walking towards the kitchen, but Aleanna calls after him. “Mr. Stark?”

Tony turns back. “Call me Tony, please. For some reason ‘Mr. Stark’ makes me feel incredibly old today.”

“Tony,” she complies, “Please, call me Aleanna, then. Will you show me around a bit, after I’ve settled, that is?”

He looks at her a moment, then replies, “Sure thing, Aleanna, Sure thing.”

“Thank you.” She opens the door to her suite and walks inside.

Tony walks into the kitchen to look for something for supper. Vision is there, attempting, once again, to cook Chicken Paprikash for Wanda. “Vision, tell me you followed a reliable recipe, looked on YouTube, or Twitch TV for a video, something more than looking at an old recipe book and taking a stab at the chicken thing.” He opens the fridge door. “I don’t suppose there’s anything in the fridge worth reheating.”

Vision looks up from the pot of boiling water. “Chicken Paprikash is supposed to be lovely with pasta noodles.” He says with a posh British accent. “I think I’ve got where I went wrong last time. And, no, I believe you ate the last of the Chinese takeout from yesterday last night, or should I say early this morning?”

Tony rubs his forehead, then slides his hand down over his eyes and down his face. “I really miss when you were just JARVIS. Your sole purpose was to help me out. Now I’m lucky if I get a ‘Sir’ from you.” Tony starts rummaging through the fridge. He closes the door of the fridge and moves to the pantry. 

“Well,  _ ‘Sir’ _ , if I may, I believe that the cafeteria downstairs was going to serve beef stroganoff. It seems to me that you’ve eaten it in the past, and quite enjoyed it.”

Tony closes the pantry. “Why didn’t you say so? I’m off.” He walks towards the hall. “Oh and Vision? We have a houseguest in Suite 8.” He jerks a thumb towards the suite, which lies just on the other side of the kitchen wall.

“Ah, I should introduce myself.” Vision takes a step towards Tony, but Tony is shaking his head.

“How about not, she only just got set up in her room. Her name is Aleanna. I’ll introduce you later.” Tony disappears in the direction of the cafeteria.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, do you say Catty-Corner, Kitty-Corner or Kiddie-Corner? I always thought it was just "kiddie-corner"...


	17. Meet and Greet

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am forever finding typoes... Ugg.
> 
> This chapter is mostly filler, but has a few teasers regarding Aleanna's abilities.

#  _ Meet and Greet _

I am converting the color of the walls when there’s a knock on the door. “Enter.”

The door swing open and Tony stands in the doorway. “Hey Aleanna,” He pauses and looks around at the light grey walls. “Do a little painting?” 

Before I can respond there’s a disgruntled “Mr. Stark” from the hallway before the wall shimmers a light greenish yellow and a bald purple man walks through.

I take three steps back and hold up my hands. “One moment.” The antibodies work quickly and soon I am inoculated- I am completely immune, and don’t have to worry about gaining his power. I breathe a sigh of relief, step forward, and hold out my hand.

Tony speaks up, “Aleanna James, meet The Vision. Vision, Aleanna James.”

Vision takes my hand and shakes it slowly. “A pleasure to meet you.” 

I nod to Vision then drop his hand and walk to the nearest square of the security system I’ve set in place in my room. The square is just larger than your average playing die. I raise both hands together before it and a holographic display pops up. I shift quickly through the menus. “Mr. Vision,” I begin, “your abilities include adjusting your density?”

Out of the corner of my eye I see Vision look at Tony, and Tony shrug. “Yes, Ms. James. That is correct.”

“Thank you.” I finish clicking the last few setting. “Would you please be so kind as to try walking through the wall again.”

“My pleasure.” As Vision steps forward his body hits the field I’ve set to run along the inside walls, floor, and ceiling of my room. He looks to me in surprise. “It appears I cannot go through the wall.” He moves towards the door to walk through it instead. “It was a... pleasure to meet you, Ms. James. I’ll let you finish getting settled.” 

“Thank you, Mr. Vision.” I respond before he walks through the door. Tony looks at me and opens his mouth to object, but I cut him off. “Mr Stark-”

“Tony,” He corrects.

“Tony” I smile. “I’m just doing what I can to ensure my safety for the duration of my stay.”

Tony waves a hand at the security system, “Seems a little extreme.”

I shrug.

“You always take precautions like this?” Tony questions.

“Honestly, no.” I struggle to find the right words. “I’ve never traveled this far off course before. I’m feeling a little out of sorts. This,” I wave my hand at the nearest cube, and continue quietly, “makes me feel safer.”

Tony looks at the walls again. “Tell me you didn’t manage to paint the walls in less than an hour. More magic?” I can almost hear the quotes around the word magic.

I debate if I should tell him, but inwardly shrug. It’s not something I’d have to worry about him using the skill. “It’s more science than magic, Tony. It’s alchemy actually.” I walk to the wall with the bed against it and bring my hands together in three quick gestures before touching them both against the wall. The color brightens to a more silver grey. 

Tony’s brow furrows. “That’s not possible. How is-”

“I’ve rebuilt the molecular structure of the paint currently on the wall. It really saves time all around. No furniture moving required.” I wink at him. I pull back the down comforter and touch my fingers to the sheets. “These are cotton, 1,000 thread count. Bamboo is more comfortable.” I again shift my fingers together, then touch the sheets. The silver glow from my fingers is a little more noticeable on the deep navy sheets. I concentrate and shift the color of the sheets to black while I’m at it. I then shift my fingers to the down comforter and the down changes to eucalyptus fibers and the design shifts to black and silver. The comforter is noticeably thinner than it originally was. 

Tony sinks into the chair behind him. His eyes stare unseeing at the bed. “That shouldn’t be possible. The amount of energy that would have to be expelled to reconstruct the molecules in an object should make any sort of alchemy impossible.”

“It is possible and less than two decades from discovery in this reality.” I reply softly. He looks a little dazed. “Come,” I try to distract him from his shock. “Show me around? I haven’t been anywhere but the brig, this room, and the shortest path between the two.”

Tony eases out of the chair and finally comes back to the moment. He motions to the doorway. “After you.”

I go through the door and walk next to him down the hall. We walk for a half hour, Tony showing me the kitchen and shared living space, he cocks his head towards the other hallway. “You’ll likely meet the rest of the team Monday, Fury sent out a notice to the crew. He will probably want you there to disclose everything you can tell us about this new threat.”

I nod. “That’s to be expected. While we are walking, could we stop by the lab and get my fighting knives? I’d feel better with them in my possession again.”

We pass a pool and several closed doors and hallways before we reach an elevator bank. Tony walks inside and touches his finger to the scanner. There’s a pause, then a voice responds. “Welcome Mr. Stark.”

“Level C” is his response.

There’s a pause, then “Aleanna James does not have clearance to enter Level C” 

“Override Protocol Stark-195.” Tony says.

“Override confirmed. Permission granted.” The elevator begins to move.

Tony looks at me. “Can I ask a question?” I nod for him to continue. “Why did you back away from Vision when you first met him?”

I’ve been expecting him to ask this, or go looking through the reports on me to find the answer himself. “When I was first starting in my travels I had no idea that I would so readily adapt to the environments I was exposed to. I inadvertently acquired a few abilities along the way. I learned the very painful lesson that some abilities don’t mesh well together, so I try to be very careful not to allow my gifts to mutate beyond what they already are.” I try to smile, but I’m sure that it looks more pained than genuine.

“So when Vision came in, you took all of 30 seconds to, what? Block his abilities?” Tony questions.

“I kept my distance long enough for my body to create antibodies. I am inoculated against his abilities. I never have to worry about accidental acquisition of his abilities.” I answer. 

Tony quirks a brow. “And are you immune to me as well?”

The elevator doors open. I walk out and I respond over my shoulder. “No, Mr. Stark, genius isn’t contagious. I’m afraid there was nothing I had to worry about building a resistance to.”


	18. Solving Riddles

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Aleanna and Tony work on a research project...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Longer chapter- hope you enjoy. :)

#  _ Solving Riddles _

Tony hurries to catch up with Aleanna and soon they reach the lab that holds her fighting knives. He doesn’t really know what to make of this woman. She seems honest and yet cautious. So much strength in her, and yet there was a moment when she met Vision that he almost thought she looked vulnerable. 

As the door to the lab opens Aleanna seems to relax. Tony walks to the technician on hand. “Directory Fury requested that the fighting knives be returned to Ms. James. We thought we’d save you some time and collect them.”

The agent frowns. It looks like she was in the process of running another battery of tests on them. “Yes, well umm.” She sighs and carefully pushes the knives forward with her gloved hands. “I was just finishing up.”

Aleanna slips the sheathes over her arms and places the knives snugly inside. “Thank you. Sorry I interrupted your research. I understand the need to discover the how and why of things.”

Tony cocks his head at Aleanna, hearing the genuine apology in her voice. He feels that she’s just revealed something very important about herself. 

“Aleanna?” Tony begins.

“Umm hmm?” She replies.

“How’d you like to check out a project I’m working on?” He motions to the door.

They move down the hallway and through another door. Tony turns to the wall and places his hand on a touchpad. The pad light changes from red to green and a door opens. This elevator moves up a few floors and when it stops it opens to a glass hallway. Tony leads Aleanna to a door and again uses the touchpad for access. 

The light turns green and F.R.I.D.A.Y. greets the pair as they walk into the lab.  “Welcome Mr. Stark. Welcome Ms. James.” 

Aleanna raises an eyebrow at Tony. “Your AI seems to have access to S.H.I.E.L.D.’s mainframe.”

He nods. “I find it saves time when I want to expand on their research or when I need to keep an eye on things.” He stands in front of his computer station and speaks to F.R.I.D.A.Y. “Bring up the specs for the A.I.A.S. please.”

The display brings up some schematics and Aleanna steps forward to see what Tony’s working on. “An AI?”

Tony touches a spot on the screen and a holographic image of himself pops up. “Aleanna, meet Anthony.”

She walks to stand in front of the image, then circles Anthony, looking at the details in the AI. “You’ve duplicated yourself. You are working on building a database of all your knowledge and placing it in the computerized version of yourself.”

Tony nods. “So that if anything happens to me, my friends will have Anthony to help them and protect them.” He is quiet for a moment then seems to physically shake himself. “So,” He claps his hands then returns to the display and starts moving pieces around. “I’m working on transferring everything I know, I’ve uploaded my voice spec, and obviously I’ve already scan myself and created the template for him. The project just isn’t moving as fast as I would like.”

Aleanna nods. “A lifetime of memories and experiences forge a person into who they are, they can take a long time to assimilate. I’ve created… memories of a few of the individuals that I forged close friendships with on my travels. I had a hard time leaving the first few places I traveled.”

Tony pauses. “Memories, as in a recording or video?”

Aleanna points to Anthony. “No, I’ve created copies of them that are locked as who they were at the point when I left, who I knew them to be. AI if you wish to use that term, but AI that is unlearning, always constant to their self, their id or ego, at the time I forged the memory.”

“How did you transfer the ‘memory’ to the AI?” Tony asks.

“Physically typing every experience into a computer is taking too long. You want to know how I managed to gather several individuals in this way?” Aleanna pauses, biting her lip in thought for a moment then motions to Tony’s computer display. He nods and steps back for her to stand in front of the computer. She brings her hands up and swipes several objects to the side and begins typing faster, digging in the S.H.I.E.L.D. Mainframe. “The way that I transferred the memories would be unreplicable for you.” She brings up a file. “However, what you are attempting has been done in this timeline, although it took a fair amount of time, because of the limitations of the technology of his time. Have you heard of Arnim Zola?” She clicks again and brings up an image of the bald little man. Tony nods slowly and Aleanna continues. “Dr. Zola was one of the leading forces behind HYDRA’s infiltration of S.H.I.E.L.D. He died in 1972. Before he died, he transferred his mind onto a bank of computers.”

Tony stares at the image of Dr. Zola as he thinks. “The human brain has been compared again and again to a super computer. So, if that holds true, the only thing I need to figure out is how to copy data from one  _ hard drive _ to another.”

He walks around Anthony with his finger to his lips. “So how do I connect what’s in here.” He motions to his temple. “To you.” He points to Anthony again. 

Aleanna looks at him expectantly. “Tony, you’re already halfway to your answer with the technology you use nearly every day.”

He turns to look at Aleanna. She sighs and clicks another few buttons until a holographic image of the Iron Man suit is displayed on one of the tables in front of her. “All you have to do is figure out how to send the feed to Anthony.” She flicks a finger at the edge of the Iron Man suit and it spins in circles.

Tony nods, realization in his eyes. “It could work. It  _ would  _ work.” He snaps his fingers one hand after the other and pops his fist into his other hand, then moves to the computer. Aleanna watches the screen over his shoulder. “Yes! I’ve got it. That makes perfect sense.” He brings up another few images and makes a few adjustments. He grins at Aleanna. “I’ll need to be in the suit to make the transfer. Would you like to step outside for some fresh air?”

Aleanna nods. “That would be fantastic.”

“F.R.I.D.A.Y. keep Anthony up and be ready to begin the transfer.” He holds his arms out and the Iron Man Mark 48 suit flies in to surround him. In moments he’s enclosed in the suit and reaches out a hand to Aleanna. “I’ll give you a lift.”

She hesitates, then steps close enough that he can wrap his arms around her. The ceiling opens to the night sky and Tony blasts up and out to a patch of grass close to the building. Aleanna steps out of the suit’s arms and breathes deeply.

Tony flips the visor up so he can see Aleanna better. “You enjoy being outside at night.”

“Very much.” She agrees softly, looking out over the yard and to the sky. “I spent over a thousand years deep in beautiful forests, with the night sky as my roof. Nature will always have a place in my heart.”

“A thousand years? Are you asgardian?” Tony questions, his face shocked.

Aleanna shakes her head, “unh unh. I’m not asgardian, I am… something else. A couple other things, I guess.” She sits, facing away from the building. 

Tony waits for a moment, but realizes that she’s not going to share any more than that. “Maybe someday you’ll tell me more about it.”

She looks up to where he’s standing. “Perhaps someday.” After a pause, she says “Well then, Tony, you should start your transfer. I believe it will take roughly an hour and 20 minutes to complete.”

“Right. Time to birth Junior.” Tony closes the visor and begins making adjustments to his display. “F.R.I.D.A.Y. start copying on my mark.” Then, “Sentry Mode.” The suit raises its arm, repulsor aimed towards the treeline. He waits for the suit to shift through one cycle of panning the yard, pauses for a moment then says, “aaand Mark.”

Aleanna lays down and looks to the sky. She slowly becomes aware of the thoughts flashing through Tony’s head and realizes her telepathic abilities are starting to come back. She sees young Tony sitting with his father working on a circuit board. She sees an older, teenage Tony bent over a car, working on it. Next is a teenage Tony fumbling around in the back of the car with a teenage girl. She concentrates on blocking the images that are coming her way, but they keep flashing through her mind. “Wonderful.” She mumbles softly. 

Forty minutes later Aleanna feels a shift and she once again tries to block out Tony’s thoughts. Her mental barriers slip into place and she breathes a sigh of relief. 

Aleanna stands up and walks to the Mark 48. It doesn’t pause in it’s scanning as she touches the suit and carefully accesses the computer system. Tony is still transferring information to Anthony and his vital signs are within an acceptable range. The main reactor on the armor is down to 91% power after being in sentry mode and running the transfer at so fast a speed for so long.

A few minutes later Aleanna feels another shift within herself and she smiles. Her abilities are coming back faster now, since much of her energy has been restored. She moves away from the Mark 48 armor to avoid triggering the defenses on the sentry mode and begins a series of knife techniques. Her movements become more fluid as she loses herself to the rhythm of the motions.

Tony opens his eyes and closes them again. “Oww, headache.” He blinks and opens his eyes again slowly. “Sentry Mode off, F.R.I.D.A.Y. report.”

“As far as I can detect, transfer is complete. Total transfer time, 82 minutes 12 seconds. Your vitals are within safe parameters. Anthony appears to have successfully stored all memories.” The system responds in her slight Irish brogue.

He looks to grass. There’s a slight indent where Aleanna sat earlier. “F.R.I.D.A.Y. tell me I haven’t aided in a jail break.” He says dryly. “I don’t see Aleanna.”

There’s a pause then, “Ms. James is 100 feet from your current location.” The suit brings up an indicator and Tony turns to where Aleanna is, and retracts the helmet all the way, so he can see better. He moves closer and watches as she swings fluidly through several hits against an invisible opponent. Her eyes are closed, her wavy blonde hair swinging behind her and her feet making no sound as she spins, kicks and stabs.

“Aleanna?” Tony calls.

She pauses mid strike, opens her eyes and turns her head to meet Tony’s gaze. “It was successful then?” In one fluid motion she swings her arms and sheathes both fighting knives into the opposite arm’s sheath.

He nods. “It looks like I’ve managed to backup my brain. I guess that means I’m immortal.” He raises his eyebrow and grins. “Somehow I thought I’d feel different. I’m slightly disappointed.” He stands in front of Aleanna with a slight frown.

Aleanna rolls her eyes and flicks her finger against Tony’s forehead. 

“Oww. Yep, I still feel pain. Definitely disappointing.” He raises his hands in surrender when she cocks her head at him.

Tony chuckles and Aleanna cracks a smile in response. “I’m glad you’re in such good spirits, Tony. Do you suppose Directory Fury will be coming out to look for me? I never specifically asked if I could venture out onto the grounds.”

“Director Fury left two hours ago. If I had to guess, I would say he was taking your advice on gathering our forces and pulling Captain Rogers out of mothballs.”

Aleanna nods. “Good. Hopefully when everyone comes together, it will be enough.” She looks Tony in the eye. “Since my jailor isn’t here to scold me, what do you say to a leisure flight before everything gets crazy.”

He opens his arms, expecting her to walk into them. Aleanna shakes her head. “Fortunately, I’ve regained another of my abilities.” She bends her knees slightly and then pushes off the ground, into the air. She turns to Tony. “I’m terrible at letting others do things for me.” She raises higher. “Race you!”

Aleanna takes off to the west, and after a moment’s hesitation Tony replaces his helmet and follows. They zip through the air, sometimes Tony is in the lead and others Aleanna. She laughs and flies straight up in the air, twisting and soaring higher and higher. Tony follows behind, increasing his speed until he reaches her foot and taps it with his hand.

She lets out a laugh and turns to face him. “Nicely done, Tony. Now it’s your turn to flee.” She raises an eyebrow and crosses her arms, seemingly standing in midair. “I’m only giving you a five second head start.”

“Five, Four…” Tony boosts through the air. He can hear Aleanna chuckle behind him before he gets too far away to hear her counting.

He zigzags and brings up his display, “F.R.I.D.A.Y. give me a reading on Aleanna. Track her movements, her speed.”

F.R.I.D.A.Y. responds, “Ms. James’ signature locked. She is 4,000 miles behind you. 3,750. Tracking speed at Mach 2, Mach 3… 2,000 miles behind you.”

Tony increases his speed and shakes his head. “Unbelievable. F.R.I.D.A.Y. let’s lose her in the thermosphere.” He swings upwards and increases his speed.

“Ms. James is still gaining. 800 miles, 500… She will be in sight distance within 30 seconds. 40 seconds to thermosphere.” The system replies.

“I’m being beaten by a girl.” Tony snarks. “Ok F.R.I.D.A.Y. full speed, as close to Mach 5 as we can get.” 

“250 feet, 200, 175… Sir, signal lost. I no longer read any signature from Ms. James.”

“Lost?” Tony pauses in flight and looks back towards the ground. “Regain lock. Scan the area. Any indication of DNA residue or aircraft collision?”

“Negative, no signs of either in the vicinity.” Is the response.

Tony gets ready to dart towards the earth. “Lock on to last known coordinates and calculate angle of descent if she were to fall out of the sky. Send those coordinates to me, updating continuously.”

“Coordinates located, calculated, showing now.” An indicator lights up and Tony takes off to catch up to it. He continues to fly until he is only 8,000 feet above the ground. “Sir, We’re slowing. Mach 4, Mach 3, Mach 2.”

Tony stops and retracts his helmet. He turns his head, and sees Aleanna holding the shoulders of his suit, hands glowing silver with magic. 

“Sorry. I should have thought that through.” She releases Tony and floats in front of him. “I masked myself from your F.R.I.D.A.Y.” She lifts one shoulder in half a shrug.

Tony points his finger at Aleanna and frowns, then shakes his head. “Fun time’s over, let's go back to the facility.”

Aleanna sighs and flies in front of him all the way back to the facility. Tony opens the roof and she lands in his lab. “I’m really sorry, Tony. Don’t be mad.”

The Mark 48 opens and Tony walks out of it. “Do you understand that Directory Fury would have had my head if something happened to you on our little joyride through the skies? Sorry Director, your prisoner; yeah, she’s that little splatter mark on the ground there. Sorry about that.” He smacks a button and the ceiling retracts back closed.

Aleanna frowns. “Director Fury doesn’t get to control my life.” She closes her eyes and opens them again. “Sheesh, you really are everybody’s dad aren’t you?” She grabs Tony’s arm to force him to look at her. “Hey! The fall wouldn’t have killed me anyway. Okay?” She lets go of his arm and walks towards the glass door. “I’m sorry, I won’t d- Aaah” She gasps and grabs her head. “Ow!!”

Tony takes a few steps towards her. “Aleanna”

“Pain,” She gasps. “So much pain. Torture.”

Tony grabs her as she collapses. “Aleanna! Who’s doing this to you?”

“Not to me,” is her weak response. “Please, keep me away from others. Can’t-  ...new powers.”

Tony lifts her into his arms in a bridal-carry. Her world goes black.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A.I.A.S. = Artificial Intelligence Anthony Stark


	19. Welcome Back | Aleanna

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which (among other things) Tony and Aleanna discuss media changes in the Multiverse.

#  _ Welcome Back | Aleanna _

I gasp in a breath as I regain consciousness. I am in the bed in my room in the Avenger’s Facility. “Oww,” I mumble. Tony is sitting in a chair staring out the window. I slowly easy myself into a sitting position. “How long was I out?” I ask softly. My security system speaks before Tony can respond. “You were brought in at 22:12 today. You regained consciousness at 22:53, approximately 40 minutes later,” is the gruff response.

I brush the covers off my lap and swing my legs to the floor. “Thank you, Illidan. Please release the safeguards and reset the system to green. I’m fine.”

“Understood. Process completed.” He responds again.

“Illidan?” Tony is still looking out the window. “Strange name for a computer.”

I smile to myself. “I was going through a phase when I built it, and I didn’t have the heart to de-commission it and build another. Illidan is a character from a game I use to play. There was lore about him doing what was necessary to save the world he lived in- taking any necessary steps. I thought it was appropriate for a fail-safe system. If I would ever die in my travels my body and my tech would be incinerated.”

Tony’s head jerks towards me. “You’d do that? Dissolve your whole body, zap your tech, just to keep from sharing your technology with others?”

I sigh loudly and rub my forehead. “No, it’s not just keeping tech away, it’s keeping the realities separate from one another. It’s keeping a balance to things. Okay umm, Ultron.” I raise my eyebrows in challenge. Tony glares in response to the name. “Imagine him on a version of Earth where the Avengers don’t exist. The omniverse has a way of keeping itself fairly balanced. What I carry with me, even the make-up of my being, could tip the world radically in one direction or another. Tipping in favor of good is not necessarily a bad thing, tipping the balance to evil having the upper hand? That could end in tragedy.”

I reach over to Tony shoulder. “Thank you, for bringing me here. For keeping me away from other supers until I could regain consciousness.”

Tony looks at my reflection in the glass of the window. “Your welcome. I don’t like being in the dark. What happened to you back there. One minute we were talking the next you were in agony.” He turns to look at me directly.

My mind flashes back to the pain and I wince. “It was hard to describe. I felt a soul reach out to mine and I felt as though I was in two places at once. I was myself, here, and I was sharing consciousness with another. Someone was torturing them. The pain was indescribable. I shared my strength with them- staying for as long as I was able to bridge the distance. I- I believe whomever I was sharing consciousness with was noticed my presence and pushed me back out.”

Tony scowls and his voice is harsh. “So you randomly soul-surf to who-knows-whom and give them strength? How could you possibly know whether the person you were helping was one of us good guys? You talk about balance, but your follow through needs some work.” He crosses his arms and glares at me. 

I cross mine in return. “Sit down and close your eyes.”

Tony glares at me, and remains unmoving.

“Seriously, you asked, so...” I raise an eyebrow. “Close. Your. Eyes.”

I see his eyes roll, before Tony sits and closes his eyes. He shifts a little and finally grows still. “Try to relax completely and keep an open mind,” I say as I bring my hands to his temples. I close my eyes and concentrate, pulling power from deep inside me.

I send him the image I see of a brightly burning golden light, the edges sparkling like diamonds.

I hear his gasp. “Are you…? Is that,” he stumbles over his words. “Is that your soul?” He asks with awe in his voice.

I open my eyes and smile at him. “No Tony, that’s your soul.” I respond. “Do you understand now, how I might be able to discern whether someone is worth trusting?” I pause before adding “Evil looks much different.”

I step away from him, and when he opens his eyes there are unshed tears in them. I turn away, knowing he wouldn’t want me to see what he would view as a weakness. I keep myself busy by smoothing the comforter out. I turn when I hear him stand. “Join me for a drink?” I ask as a move towards the door.

Tony nods in agreement and follows me to the common living space. I walk to the cabinet in the kitchen and pull down two wine glasses. They make a light clink as I set them on the coffee table in the living room. “As a thank you for all you’ve done today, I’d like to share some elvish wine.” I reach into the pocket dimension and pull out a bottle. The seal on the bottle is unbroken and the wine is finely aged. I break the seal and pour a small amount into each of our glasses. “This wine is from the Silvan elves, the likes of whom have very high tolerances for alcohol. It is very potent. Drink with care.”

Tony sniffs the wine and nods in appreciation. 

I raise my glass to him, “To new friendships.” We clink our glasses together. “ _Êl síla erin lû e-govaned vîn_. _Savo 'lass a lalaith._ ” I add in Sindarin Elvish, then, seeing his raised brow, I follow it with the translation. “Roughly translated it means, ‘A star shines on the hour of our meeting. Have joy and laughter.’”

Tony takes a drink from his glass, smacking his lips together in appreciation. He holds it up, surprise clear on his face. “This is incredible. A fruity, yet earthy bouquet. Full-bodied and sweet, it’s soft and somewhat ‘oaky’ flavored.” He takes another sip and nods.

I smile. “I’m so very glad you like it!” I refill our glasses and we drink together for a few moments.

Tony suddenly speaks up. “Favorite part of traveling these different universes?”

I ponder a moment. “New friendships, and experiencing new things.”

“Okay,” he replies. “Least favorite part of traveling?”

My eyes grow distant and I shake my head sadly. “Leaving my new friends behind,” I raise my glass to salute him before taking another swallow. “And the damn media changes.”

“Media?”

“Yes; books, movies, music. Do you know how hard it is to carry on a conversation when half the music you listen to doesn’t exist. Like,  _ Sound of Silence _ by Simon and Garfunkel seems to be fairly widely known, however there are some realities that the remake by Disturbed never was made.” I shake my head. “A travesty if you ask me.”

“What remake?” Tony questions. 

I stare at him then break out laughing, “Oh, no, no- Tony, really? Here too?” I reach into my pocket dimension and pull out a device about as large as three quarters stacked on top of each other. “I must be tipsier than I think, because this,” I set the device on the coffee table, “is going to seem like a much worse idea tomorrow morning.” I touch my finger to the top of the device. “Play  _ Sound of Silence _ by Disturbed,” I say. 

There is a pause and the first haunting notes fill the room. We sit, sipping the wine and listening to the rich voice and instruments fill the air. There’s silence in the air for a bit before Tony speaks up. “Here, that guy is known for his guttural screams and heavy metal sound. I can’t believe how strong and clear his voice is.”

I nod. “He’s the same in other realities. This song came out and people went a little crazy for it. The sound was so different and surprising to the people.” We fall silent and listen through the end of the song.

Tony looks at the small device. “So that’s like an MP3 player with a speaker on it?”

I shrug. “Basically.”

“How many songs can it hold?”

“How many songs are there?” I respond.

He gives me a skeptical look and I chuckle. “Alright, alright, it’s linked itself to this world’s internet, so it can access pretty much anything out there, and it links to my personal computer system as well. Better answer?” 

He motions to the player again. “Do you mind?”

I wave off his request. “Just touch it and tell it what you want.” I reply.

He touches the top. “Best of the 80’s rock music.” The room fills with the sound of Def Leppard’s  _ Pour Some Sugar on Me _ . Tony picks up the player and turns it around in his hands, trying to make sense of the technology. He is leaning off to the side a little and seems to be blinking a little more than usual. I suspect that he is more than half drunk himself.

A voice calls out from the hallway opposite our rooms. “Tony? Is that you? The noise is traveling into my room.” says a female voice with an Eastern European accent.

I gasp and jump up from the couch and back towards the TV. “Scarlet Witch!”

Tony turns to the hallway. “Wanda, hold right there for a minute.”

Wanda cocks her head at Tony but stops where she’s standing. She looks at me and I feel her starting to reach out to me with her mind. I breath deeply and focus my energies on building my immunities before she exposes her powers to me. The immunity takes hold and the breath whooshes out of me. I feel her poking at my memories and focus solely on remembering my sword training I worked through before leaving home. I go through every turn and every slice of the sword. I remember the feel of the mats under my feet. I block out all faces and only see the sword in my hands.

Slowly I feel Wanda retract her mind from me. I can only hope that my ability to actually block psychic invasion will come back soon. I nod to Tony and he smiles to Wanda. “Come in, we’re drinking fancy wine.”

Wanda shakes her head, “No thank you Tony, it’s quite late. I was just going to ask you to turn the music down.” 

Tony works on focusing on Wanda and suddenly sits up. “Sorry, umm Wanda, meet Aleanna. Aleanna… Wanda.” I walk forward and shake Wanda’s hand. Tony holds the music player up to me, putting it about three inches from my face. “Little help?”

The device wavers back and forth slightly as Tony sways. I shift back slightly and hold his hand to keep the player steady. I touch my finger to the top of the device and move it around in edge counter-clockwise. The volume drops until the music is just barely audible.

Wanda looks to me. “Thank you, I have had a long day and I am tired, however, I am eager to learn more about you tomorrow. Good night.”

Tony fumbles with the wine and pours himself another third of a glass. He’s propped up leaning back against the arm of the couch, his brow is wrinkled in concentration as he drinks from the glass. I set the player back on the coffee table and move to the chair, tucking my feet under me. We sit there in easy quiet for a while, Bon Jovi’s  _ Wanted Dead or Alive  _ is playing softly.

I suddenly see some images flash before my eyes and I jerk to my feet. “Tony!”

“Hmm,” he mumbles.

“I need a large sheet of paper, quickly!” I am digging around in my pocket dimension and finally pull out a charcoal pencil.

He points to the open wall behind the chair I’ve been sitting in. “Use the wall.” He chuckles and lays on his side on the couch.

I turn to the wall and shift the chair away from it. I sketch quickly, trying to hold on to the images I’m seeing. I don’t know how much time has passed, when I finally drop into the chair again and close me eyes. I had forgotten how draining these particular visions could be.

I close my eyes and my conscious drifts a bit. I jerk suddenly when Tony snorts. He’s started to snore. I chuckle and climb out of the chair. I pull on Tony’s arm. “Come on,” I haul him off the couch and pull his arm around my shoulders to keep him upright. “Let's get you to sleep.” Tony stumbles along next to me, half asleep and still half drunk.

I walk him to his room and dump him into his bed. “Good night. Come see me in the morning if your hangover keeps you from your duties.”

Tony mumbles something non-committal and I chuckle as I leave the room.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ...And a nod to World of Warcraft in this chapter. I apparently have trouble spelling "Illidan" but I think I got them all fixed now. ;)


	20. Hangovers and Hallucinations

#  _ Hangovers and Hallucinations _

The morning light is falling on Tony’s eyes the next morning, waking him. He sits up and holds his head in his hands. “Ugg.”

He stumbles to the windows and fixes the shades so the sun stops driving nails into his skull. He clutches his temples and runs through the last few things he remembers from the night before. “Hangover cures...” He stumbles across the hallway and knocks on the door to Aleanna’s room.

Tony pauses and hears a voice mumble on the other side of the door and clicks the door open. He steps inside and gets bombarded with music -  _ all I know is I’m not home yet | this it not where I belong.  _ He reels backwards and smacks into the door.

“Pause session!” Aleanna’s voice rings above the music and the room falls silent. “Tony?” she questions quietly as she touches his shoulder.

Tony’s hands find their way to his forehead and he squints against the light. The space is filled with people- all standing in front of pews and frozen in song. He turns to Aleanna in question. 

“Close session,” she says softly, then shrugs a shoulder at Tony, “Church.” The people and altered furnishings fade out around them.

He points to his head, “Hangover.”

Aleanna touches his temple gently. “Yes, a bad one.” She pulls gently on his arm. “Come, I’ve just the thing.”

They make their way to the kitchen. Aleanna steers Tony to one of the stools a the counter. She then rummages through the cabinets and fridge. She pours something into a glass and hands it to Tony. “Coconut water.”

He takes a drink as she pulls out a small vial and adds three drops from it into his drink. “Finish it if you can, you should feel better in a half hour.” She turns and begins pulling things from the fridge. Eggs, cheese, peppers, mushrooms, ham, and assorted herbs pile up next to the stove. “Omelet?”

Tony stares at all the ingredients. Aleanna answers his unasked question, “I ordered some items stocked to this kitchen… from the cafeteria.” She motions to the ingredients again and asks softly, “Omelet?”

He nods and finishes the last of his coconut milk. Aleanna busies herself chopping mushrooms and peppers. She looks up from her chopping the the knife freezes mid-stroke. “Oops…” she whispers hoarsely. 

On the wall behind the chair is a massive mural of sorts, images of both men and women, some quite alien-looking ones are scattered throughout. She walks around the island and slowly moves to stand in front of the mural. Tony comes forward to stand next to her. 

He stares, then finally speaks, “you drew that?”

“Yep,” she quietly respond.

“Do you recognize any of the people you drew?”

“Yep,” is her answer.

“All these guys are against us?” He cringes as he looks at the couple dozen individuals.

“No,” She points to a few images. “This guy here, he’s on your side, and this one.” She points to another.

He turns his head. “Is that,” he hesitates, but continues. “Did you draw a racoon holding a gun?”

She chuckles and covers her smile with her hand. “Yeah, he’s on your side too. And the tree.”

Tony scans the picture until he sees a strange looking tree-man. “Huh.”

They sit in silence for a moment before Aleanna speaks again. “I think this is everyone who’s off-world yet. I don’t know how accurate this image is. It may just represent a possible future, nothing more. This one here, though,” she points to the man towering over everyone in the middle, “That’s your big bad.”

“We need to bring this to the meeting Monday. Hey F.R.I.D.A.Y. scan the wall of the Avengers common area and upload to my personal files. Run all the images through the S.H.I.E.L.D. Database and see if we can’t get a few matches. I’ll check in later.” A light from his wrist device covers the mural on the wall then fades out. Tony tips back the last of his glass of coconut water.

“How’s your head doing?” Aleanna asks as she shifts her hands a few times, reaches over to the mural and it fades away.

Tony blinks and looks at her, “Hangover’s history. I would really love to know what was in that vial.”

Aleanna smiles at him, but shakes her head. “Sorry, all the alcohol you can drink, without the head-pounding side effects? Your liver would hate me. This really should be a one-time deal. No more get-out-of-hangovers-free card.”

Tony makes a face and she busts out laughing at him before walking back to the omelets she was prepping.

The breakfast went quickly and Aleanna soon excuses herself to her room. She was exhausted from the past couple days. She sat on the bed and folded her legs in. Meditation usually came easier to her, but she couldn’t sit still. She sighs and runs through a knife form.


	21. Reviewing the Surveillance Video | Tony

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Three Kudos! You guys are the best! Thank you so much!!

#  _ Reviewing the Surveillance Video | Tony _

Tony sits on his chair, the image of Anthony standing behind him. “F.R.I.D.A.Y. please bring up all of Fury’s conversations with Aleanna.” He watches through the entire video feed, raising his brows as he watches Aleanna pull out a phaser and turn the pillow to dust. “Interesting.”

“Repeat playback.” He listens through everything again then sighs. “Hey Anthony, what do you make of this video,” then under his breath, “Hey, I’m starting to talk to myself. Is that a sign of insanity?” 

Anthony turns his eyes to Tony and responds, “I believe we only have to worry about it when you start answering yourself.” The holographic Tony and the solid one stare down each other for a few moments before they both burst out laughing. 

“I so love that I have someone that appreciates my humor now.” Tony taps his chin, lost in thought. “All right, F.R.I.D.A.Y. full analysis. Give me everything. Temp and humidity of the room. Body temps, heart rate, and everything else on Aleanna and Fury. All the vitals.”

The video playback begins again, Tony watching the stats, then he pauses the video. “Wait, right there.” Aleanna has just admitted that she’s scared. “Anthony, look at these numbers.” He points to the screen, “Aleanna is clearly telling the truth, increased heart rate and adrenaline output… changes in her temperature.”

Anthony nods. “But?”

Tony taps the screen to highlight Fury’s stats. “His stats indicate the same thing, fear.” 

Anthony frowns. “Do you think she caused it? Some sort of emotional manipulation to get him to sympathize with her?”

Tony backs up the feed, to when Fury enters the room that final time. He looks at the stats. “I don’t think she caused his fear.” He narrows his eyes and points to the indicators as the conversation progresses, “...I think he caused hers.” Tony closes the program and brings up the image from the mural. “I’d like you to try to pull each individual image out and see if you and F.R.I.D.A.Y. can work out how many are friend and how many are foe. If we can ID them before tomorrow, that would be helpful. I’m probably in the dog-house; I forgot Pepper wanted to conference call as soon as I woke up this morning. I’d better start making it up to her now.” He walks out of the lab and wanders back to his room to use the computer there.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A shorter chapter, but I'm working the story in the direction I think it should go, so yeah... yay!
> 
> I'll *probably* post another short chapter later today. I'm so close to the more meaty chapters, but trying to actually read through them carefully before I post - as opposed to blasting quickly through uploading them all.


	22. Multiple Realities - Tony

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another (short) chapter as promised.

#  _ Multiple Realities - Tony _

Tony walks out of his suite and taps the door to Aleanna’s room. He hears a mumbled response and opens the door. “Hey Aleanna.”

She finishes the rest of her knife drill and sits on the floor to stretch. “Hey Tony. What can I do for you?”

“Let's talk phasers and spaceships.” He replies.

“You watched the video feed from the prison cell.”

He nods in response. “This whole multiple reality thing seems a little outside the realm of possible.”

“Having trouble with the concept that you might not be the only ‘Tony Stark’?” She grins and stands, motioning to the set of chairs in the room.

Tony and Aleanna sit across from one another. “How can I help?” Aleanna asks.

“If there are so many realities, who’s to say what happens in this one isn’t predestined? What if the Avengers are meant to fail? Does it even matter if we don’t stop this evil from coming. There has to be any number of realities where we do, right?”

Aleanna lays her hand on Tony’s knee. “It matters to the people who live in this reality. The future isn’t locked in place. It can and will be affected by the choices of each individual. My landing here when I did certainly messed with the intended direction of the war,” Tony’s head snapped up at the word war, but Aleanna continues before he can cut in. “...And so, I will need to fight- alongside you and the other heroes of Earth.”

Tony raises a hand, “Ok, time out. War? Earth will be under direct attack?”

Aleanna locks eyes with his. “Tony, if the Avengers fail, the loss of life in the entire galaxy will be catastrophic.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm excited to post the next chapter but it's going to wait until tomorrowwww.... =)


	23. Dreams, Or Nightmares? | Aleanna

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another piece of the puzzle...

#  _ Dreams, Or Nightmares? | Aleanna _

It is later that evening and Aleanna has slipped into a stretchy black jumpsuit. She’s laying down in bed with her arms spread down to her sides palm up. She has been trying to slip back into  _ silent consciousness _ on and off since she got to this reality. She closes her eyes, hoping to settle her mind enough to rest.

She drifts.

_ Aleanna opens her eyes and she’s in a lowly lit room. The walls are a dark metal, everything seems to shift as she watches. Suddenly there’s someone strapped to a chair in front of her, a bag over their head. They tip their head, listening. “I know you are there. Has your master grown bored of visiting me himself?” The voice is male, and cultured, but strained. _

_ Aleanna’s eyes lose and regain focus. She blinks a few times. “Holy heck, I’m dreaming.” A wave of giddiness rolls over her and she giggles. She walks to the man in the middle of the room and runs her finger along the edge of his leather clad shoulders. “Well this is kinky. A man bound and defenseless in front of me. What should I do with you?” She pulls the hood off, revealing raven locks of hair. The man looks up at her, his face is so badly beaten that she takes a step back and gasps. She meets piercing blue eyes that seem to see into her soul. _

_ She shakes her head, trying to focus on what he said, “I have no master.” _

_ “Surely Thanos is not allowing visitors.” Is the dry reply. “Am I to be an exhibit available for any traveler to happen upon. A curiosity to mock?” He coughs suddenly and then spits blood onto the floor. _

_ “I assure you, I’m not here to mock or gawk at you.” _

_ “Sure.” _

_ “You have my word. I mean you no harm.” _

_ “Then perhaps you can help me get out of these bonds?” He replies hoarsely. _

_ She looks at the complicated locking device on the bindings strapped around him. “Hmm. She reaches for her pocket dimension, but her hand will not slip inside.” She shakes her head. “Right a dream. I am afraid your a stuck.” _

_ There is a sigh from the bound man. “Just leave, please. Thanos will be back to kill me at any moment, if you don’t mind I’d like to spend what’s left of my existence in solitude.” _

_ “You’re awfully negative for a figment of my imagination. How about this, I swear, I will protect you from Thanos, and any other evil that would kill you, or die trying. If I fail, may my life be forfeit.” _

_ The man looks at her skeptically, then answers sarcastically, “I would be ever grateful and would never want to leave your presence. If we should part ways, may I feel the pain of a hot poker in my chest until I would return to you.” _

_ She raises an eyebrow. “That’s horribly dramatic. I think I would have settled for ‘I’d be very thankful.’ Shall we shake on our bargain. Perhaps then my mind can move to more cheerful surroundings.” She shakes her head and holds out her hand to him. “I never knew I had such an inner drama queen. First time dreaming in over a thousand years and I’m making deals with bloodied up prisoners instead of laying on a beach.” _

_ The man gives her a strange look, then shakes her hand. “You have a bargain.” _

_ Aleanna looks down at their joined hands and her eyes widen as she sees markings grow from her hand, up her wrist, she jerks her sleeve back and watches the black marks swirl up her arm. She shakes her head again and again. _

_ The man looks at the marks that have formed on his own hand. ‘What have you done to me?” His eyes shoot to hers. _

_ She is still shaking her head. “Not a dream. I didn’t know. It’s not a dream.” She fades from the room. _

Aleanna startles awake and yanks her sleeve up her arm. She stares in shock. The black marks stare back at her... “Sh*t!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Can you guess who Aleanna met? ;)


	24. Bargains | Tony

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Things are starting to pick up...
> 
> Hopefully you feel I'm writing a realistic Tony Stark. =)

#  _ Bargains | Tony _

Tony is wrapped up in bed dreaming of a small black cat with a white moustache. The cat is talking to him. “...goofed up and need your help.” Tony blinks at the cat. Huh?

“Tony,” Tony’s eyes pop open to Pepper’s voice. “Why is there a strange woman standing in our bedroom.”

Tony looks to the woman and rubs his eyes, attempting to wake up. “Pepper, Aleanna. Aleanna, Pepper.”

Aleanna nods her chin to Pepper. “Sorry to intrude, very nice to meet you.”

Pepper’s eyebrows come together in a confused frown. “Nice to meet you too?”

“Tony, I need your help. And your lab. And maybe Anthony.” Tony is suddenly more awake. “Alright, let me find some pants.” Pepper mouths ‘Anthony?’ in confusion. Aleanna walks out of their room.

Tony pulls on his pants from the night before and gives Pepper a light kiss on the lips. “I’ll explain later. Go back to sleep. It’s,” he glances at the clock and stifles a groan, “not even 5am yet. I’ll explain everything in the morning.”

Tony closes the door to his suite and begins walking next to Aleanna. “Start talking.” 

“I had a dream last night only, it wasn’t a dream, it was,” she shakes her head looking for the right word. “Dreamscaping or something. I thought I was dreaming, but I was wrong.”

Tony frowns. “Dreaming and this ‘dreamscaping’ feel that similar?” 

“I haven’t dreamt for over 2,000 years. I guess I mistook the experience as dreaming.” She huffed indignantly.

Tony grabbed her upper arm to stop her, then shook his head and started walking again. “Okay, we’re going to talk about that later. So what’s so bad about dreamscaping?”

“I made a bargain with a man I thought was a figment of my imagination. I offered my protection. I didn’t realize that my freaking fae abilities would choose to surface next. The fae take bargains very seriously. Damn Rhysand for sneaking up on me.” She says that last part softly to herself.

Tony is shaking his head. “I’m not sure I followed more than 12 percent of that. What makes you think you weren’t dreaming. Maybe you’re overreacting.” The doors of the lab whoosh open in front of them. 

Aleanna lifts her arm and yanks her sleeve down, the black markings are glaringly obvious on her pale skin. “I’m pretty sure.”

Tony points his finger up and opens his mouth, drops his and down and shakes his head. “I thought I was the rash one around here.” He points to the markings. “I’m going to assume your new tat sleeve is a record of your bargain with this unknown person.” She nods and he runs both hands through his hair. “What exactly did you bargain?”

Aleanna thinks for a moment, to be sure she has the exact phrasing. “I said, ‘ _I swear, I will protect you from Thanos, and any other evil that would kill you, or die trying. If I fail, may my life be forfeit.’_ His part of the bargain was ‘ _I would be ever grateful and would never want to leave your presence. If we should part ways, may I feel the pain of a hot poker in my chest until I would return to you.’_ ” she finishes speaking quietly.

Tony rubs his eyes. “That was reckless.” He grabs her arm and gives her a shake. “What were you thinking?”

She pulls her arm from his grasp. “I  _ thought _ I was dreaming. I’m sorry. So, so sorry.” She touches Tony’s arm. “Tony, I have to rescue him. If he dies, I die.”

Aleanna sees the decision in Tony’s eyes a moment before he flicks the lights on in the lab and brings up Anthony and F.R.I.D.A.Y. “Ok listen up. We’re arranging a rescue mission. Aleanna will be leading us through what we need to do.”

Anthony gives Aleanna a sassy salute and walks to her. “Tell me where you need me.”

Aleanna begins rapidly tapping through a series of screens, the displays moving at an alarming rate, then she holds up the final display to Anthony. “When I start, I need you to keep the tolerances within .05 of these numbers. Have FRIDAY help hold them steady.” She looks at Tony. “You may want to suit up.” She holds out a handful of her little cube computers. “If anything else starts to come through I want you to blast one of these.” She sets them in a square around her. “I’m fairly certain I can pinpoint his location, she rubs her inked arm. “We’re connected now.” She stands in the middle of the four squares and sets another by her feet. She touches the top and goes through a series of holographic screens. “This should buy us time after the rescue. It is going to produce a replica of him. The device with self-destruct after a certain amount of torture is inflicted, or once the ruse is discovered.” She raises her hands in front of her and the device floats up from the floor. She nods to Tony and then to Anthony. “Here goes nothing.” 

Tony watches from outside the square, he has both his gauntlets on, but left the rest of the suit off. Aleanna shifts her hands around and a field of sorts links all the cubes together. Aleanna is surrounded by an energy barrier. Inside is a display of the stars. She closes her eyes and opens them again, shifting the stars, pulling this way and that, rapidly. The model suddenly stops and she brings the image closer and closer. There’s a massive ship in front of her. She twists both wrists like she’s locking something. “Remember keep the tolerances low. I’ll be back as soon as possible.”

She grabs the floating cube and jumps forward, slipping right into the image with the spaceship. Tony blinks as she zips to the hull and slips through. Tony looks at Anthony. “Did you...?”

Anthony has his eyes on the screen as his hands move quickly to make various adjustments.

Three minutes pass, then five. Suddenly Aleanna comes shooting back through with a bundle over her shoulder. She lands hard on the floor and barely catches her balance. She staggers, then drops to her knees, tipping the bundle, a man wrapped in his own cloak, carefully from her shoulder to the floor. 

Aleanna stands up and with a series of movements dissolves the image of the spaceship. “Thank you Tony.” She turns to him and finds him staring at the unconscious man on the floor.

Tony shakes his head. “He can’t stay here. End of the road, Tour Guide Barbie.” His voice is shaking with anger. “That guy is not staying on Earth.”

“Tony?” She looks at him, hurt clear in her eyes. “Why not?”

“That… is Loki.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Did you guess who it was?


	25. Compromises | Aleanna

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another tiny chapter, which is why I'm sneaking it in yet tonight. :)

#  _ Compromises | Aleanna _

“Tony be reasonable.” I can’t believe the hate and rage I feel pouring off of him.

“I am. This is reasonable.” He glares at Loki’s unmoving form. “He’s a sadistic murderer.”

I crouch next to the bloody mess of a man laying on the floor. “Tony he’s unconscious. Barely alive after what that monster did to him.” I rip the sleeve from my shirt and gently brushes some of the blood from Loki’s face. 

“He probably deserved it.” Tony snarks.

I stare at Tony for a long minute. “You  _ do _ remember me mentioning being a good judge of character, right?”

Tony looks from Loki’s still form to me and back again. Apprehension growing stronger inside him as he suddenly realises just what I’m implying. “No way. This is your ‘pure soul’ you linked with before?” 

“Can I trust you to at least help me get him tucked away. I’ll tell Fury about him as soon as we get to the meeting. Can you promise you won’t try to blow him away until there’s an official decision from the whole group?”

Tony sighs loudly and sends his gauntlets back into storage. “Don’t make me regret this, kid.”

I switch the field off and draw the four cubes back to my hand telekinetically and drop them into my pocket dimension. I crouch down and carefully lift Loki into my arms. “Ugg, lead-weight.” I nod to Tony, indicating I’m ready. He leads the way out of the lab, opening all the secure doors along the way to our floor.

*****

“...I still think this is a bad idea.” Tony says for probably the tenth time since I brought Loki to my room.

“I get that Tony, but it’s the most secure place here. He’s not going anywhere until we’re ready.” I gently brushes a stray hair from Loki’s face. I’ve already eased a healing potion down his throat. He’ll sleep for some time while the potion works through him. I pull one of the chairs close and sit, opening a book. “You want to sit with me?” 

Tony is frowning at Loki’s form, but shakes himself out of it. “I should probably try to sleep a little, and let Pepper know everything’s alright. Pack her a bag and tuck her safely into one of my other houses, far away from this mess.”


	26. AVENGERS Assemble.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A conversation between Fury and Steve- and a long distance phone call. ;)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 100 views! I'm so happy people are giving this fic a try! =)

#  _ AVENGERS Assemble. _

Director Fury sits in a helicopter with Steve Rogers. He looks over at him, but neither say anything. They both listen to the drone of the chopper blades. Finally Steve breaks the silence. “So why now?”

“We have reason to believe something is coming. Something big. Plus, it was time. I know we haven’t always agreed on the way things should be handled, but we both can agree that the world needs protection. And Steve, the world needs Captain America, now more than ever.”

“So I’ve been dusted off once again. Time to throw on the stars and stripes and tell people everything is going to be okay, because Captain America is here.” Steve frowns as he replies.

“Steve,” Fury begins, “Hope is a powerful thing. It’s the loss of hope, the acceptance of defeat that will destroy an army before it’s even begun to fight.” He raises his chin slightly. “So yes, we’re dusting you off, and I’m  _ hoping  _ you’re ready to fight for your country, for your planet, one more time.”

The helicopter is just coming in for a landing at the new Avengers Facility. Fury addresses Steve one last time. “Your quarters are exactly how you left them. We’re meeting at 1300 hours to discuss what we know so far.”

Steve nods and hops out of the helicopter. Fury sits for a moment longer. “Director Fury?” He reaches to his comm.

“Fury here, I copy, what’s your status, Hill?” He replies.

“Sir, we’ve got non-essential personnel switching to the secondary site. We’ve recalled Agents Romanoff and Barton. They should just make the meeting at 1pm. Is there anything else you’d like me to put on the agenda?”

“No, that will be all.”

“Director, one more thing. Agent Yager has asked for you the moment you get in.”

Fury replies, “Did she give any indication as to what she needed to talk about?”

“No Sir, just the request that you please visit the lab to talk with her and Agent Williams as soon as you return.”

“Thank you, Commander. Fury out.” He closes the comm link and walks into the facility.

Five minutes later he’s in the lab with Williams and Yager. “Agents, what have you got for me.”

“Sir, we managed to complete the SpaCT. Our first messages to Asgard met with silence.” Williams replies.

“Silence? They’re ignoring us?” Fury questions.

Yager looks to Williams and she nods encouragingly to her. “Sir, we were fairly certain that everything was sending properly on our end, so we widened the range of the tech, just in case our calculations were off. Not that they were, we ran them five times to confirm but-”

“Is there a point that we’re getting to ladies?” Fury pushes.

“Sir, we picked up a faint signal.” Yager nods to Williams and she clicks a button, playing back a recording of what they found.

_ “This is the Asgardian refugee vessel Statesman... We are under assault. I repeat, we are under assault.”  _ The feed cuts out for several seconds before coming back.  _ “...requesting aid from any vessel within range.”  _ More static and then _. “Asgardian families.” _

There are a few beats of silence before Yager speaks again. “The ship must have been moving while sending the signal. As it drifted out of range, we lost track of them completely. We tried several trajectories, but honestly is was just dumb luck that we stumbled on their signal the first time. With only a rough starting position and not knowing the speed they were moving at, or their direction, well… it would be kind of a shot in the dark to find them again.”

They both look at Fury expectantly. He rubs his thumb across his chin. “Thank you, ladies. Keep at it. If you have any breakthroughs, please let me know. The non-essential personnel is being transferred to beta site. I’d like you both to stay on here and focus on fine-tuning this technology.” The women both nod their affirmation to Fury and he turns and walks out the door.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had to add a little of the distress call to this. :)


	27. Mercenaries | Tony

#  _ Mercenaries | Tony _

Aleanna and Tony walk up to the doors to the conference room. Aleanna rests her hand on Tony’s arm. “I’m going to need to take it slow walking in there, if there are several new faces.” 

Tony nods his understanding. “Take your time.” 

“What are we all standing around here for?” A masculine voice suddenly chimes in behind them. 

“Sh*t!” Aleanna spins faster than Tony can track and a burst of light flashes from her hands into a body a few feet behind them. A blur of red and black flies back 60 feet behind them, barely missing a few benches and landing with a thud.

The guy shakes his head and slowly stands up, brushing his hands down his skin-tight suit. “Well, I nearly did. Thanks for the suggestion.”

Tony tilts his head, watching the stranger start walking towards them. “F.R.I.D.A.Y., who is this fashion victim in the 1980’s action film suit?”

F.R.I.D.A.Y. responds, “Accessing S.H.I.E.L.D. files. Sir, his name is Deadpool. S.H.I.E.L.D. lists him as a mercenary for hire.” A pause, then, “It appears they’ve signed a contract with him.”

Tony looks at Aleanna and she nods her head, indicating that her immunity has settled. He motions a hand to Deadpool then to Aleanna. “Deadpool, Aleanna. Aleanna, Deadpool.” 

Deadpool suddenly turns and looks towards the windows, “Ohh, meow, kitty has some claws.” He makes a claw with one hand, while the other he brings up to his masked cheek, feigning shock.

Tony raises a brow at Deadpool, “Who are you…” He gives up and turns to Aleanna and tries again. “Who is he talking to?”

She just rolls her eyes and shakes her head. “Fury must be desperate. Let’s get this over with. After you Deadpool.”

Deadpool flings the conference room door open dramatically, walks inside and starts chattering happily. “Hey guys, I found the man in the iron mask and a  _ very _ feisty kitty outside.” His head pops back out the door, “Aww, come on guys, don’t be shy!”

Tony sticks his thumb in the direction of Deadpool’s disappearing form. “Is he for real?” He rubs his head. “Five minutes of him and I’m already getting a migraine.”

Aleanna feels several mutant abilities and other powers wash over her senses. She turns to Tony. “I’m good, you ready?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really wanted to try to write Deadpool. Hopefully you feel like I've captured his voice in this short chapter. :)
> 
> I have this head cannon I'm hoping to squeeze in at a later date regarding why a Deadpool talks to the viewer/reader.


	28. The BORED Room. | Aleanna

#  _ The BORED Room. | Aleanna _

Tony and I walk through the door and are greeted by a table surrounded by with some of the most powerful beings on Earth. A screen shows a live feed of a group of government suits sitting stiffly around a table. I groan inwardly. They are more than likely going to try to throw their weight around and push to keep power over the super powered individuals in this room. 

Just as Fury greets everyone a blonde man with a dark blue uniform walks in and sits very straight in his chair. “Cap.,” Fury greets politely. “I want to thank everyone for joining us today. I hope that everyone understands the severity of the situation we’re faced with.”

I lean over to Tony and whisper softly. “Aw, the boyscout is cute. So serious and proper.” I pout my lips out in a slight duck face at Tony. Each place at the table is set with a large packet of paper. I flip through mine and quickly go over the notes on what we know so far.

One of the men on the screen speaks up. “Directory Fury, while we appreciate you bringing this to our attention, I want to remind you that not everyone in your conference room is under your jurisdiction. There are protocols to adhere to. We also would like to see proof of this,” he flips through the sheets of paper in front of him. “‘Asgardian Ship under attack’ before we commit any of our forces to your cause.”

Fury stands up and begins pacing. “Secretary Ross. I contacted you as a courtesy. Earth may well fall under attack in a short while. I just wanted to give you gentlemen a heads up and hopefully keep the nukes from flying.” He finishes in a snarky tone. “Actually, I contacted you to request that you  _ avoid _ sending any troops to help us out. We want competent people on the ground for this. If you want to be of help, try assisting with the evacuation of New York. In the meantime, I’ve got bigger things to worry about than your ego, _ sir. _ ” He pushes a button on the table near his seat and the screen goes blank. 

Tony quirks a brow, “I think the Accords just got vetoed.”

“Okay people. Let’s start.” Fury points to each person in turn, going around the room. “Steve Rogers, AKA Captain America, Natasha Romanoff, AKA Black Widow, Clint Barton, AKA Hawkeye, Tony Stark, AKA Iron Man, Aleanna James, Wanda Maximoff, AKA Scarlet Witch, Vision, Wade Wilson, AKA Deadpool.”

Deadpool cuts in with a gasp. “My secret identity!” There’s general eye rolling from various people in the room.

Fury continues, “Piotr Rasputin, AKA Colossus, Mr. Logan, AKA Wolverine, and Scott Summers, AKA Cyclops.”

Everyone nods to each other as the introductions are completed. Logan sniffs the air and turns to me, “Lady, you don’t smell human, what are you?”

I raise my brow, then concentrate on shifting my scent so I smell more human. “How about now?”

He sniffs the air again and frowns at me. “That ain’t right.”

I narrow my eyes at the mutants. “Is Jean Grey dead or alive?” 

Wolverine unsheathes his claws, “Are you threatening Jean?!” Cyclops touches Wolverine’s arm in warning.

“Alive, and well.” Cyclops says stiffly.

“The Phoenix?” I ask, but I’m greeted with confused looks. “Ok, so no need to worry about the Dark Phoenix making an inopportune visit.”

Fury crosses his arms over his chest. “There a reason for your strange line of questioning, Ms. James?”

“Yes sir. Please indulge me for a little longer,” I respond, then look to Cyclops again. “Does Professor X train gifted children in this world?”

Deadpool jumps in, “Oooh, ooh, I know this one.” Somehow the eyes on his facemask get larger as if he’s showing excitement. “Yes, he has a school where he trains tiny teenage mutants… Although, when I come to visit, the place looks like a haunted house.” He stage-whispers, “I think they’re hiding the young and impressionable ones from me!”

“Directory Fury, I would suggest sending Wanda and Vision to stay with Professor X and his group of mutants, they should be able to protect Vision.” I suggest.

“And Vision needs protecting? From what exactly?” Fury says gruffly.

“That” I point to the mind stone in Vision’s head, “is the reason the Earth is going be attacked.”

Fury looks at Vision. “The infinity stones?” 

I nod and Fury frowns. “Alright, Wanda, you and Vision are to stick with Mr. Summers.” He turns to Cyclops. “That is, if it’s alright with you?” 

Cyclops nods and motions for the rest of the mutants to follow him. “We’ll start prepping the jet. Wanda and Vision, can you be ready to go in fifteen minutes?” They nod in affirmation and he turns to Fury, “I’ll drop a line when we get to the school, to let you know if there’s anything else we learn about this threat.”

Deadpool jumps up and grabs Colossus’ arm. “Hey big guy, you can’t leave me now. I bet Yukio misses me!” He gleefully holds Colossus as they walk away.

Fury nods his head to them as they exit the room. Wanda and Vision stand. “We should pack, we’ll be sure to have Mr. Summers keep us informed.” Wanda says in her gentle accent.

Fury shifts his attention to the rest of the group. “So, is there anything else we need to bring to the table while we’re here?”

Tony raises an eyebrow at me and I sigh. I would have liked to have less of a committee gathered for this. I raise my hand almost shyly. “I umm, rescued a prisoner of war.” It ends up sounding more like a question than a statement.

Fury crinkles his forehead. “You don’t sound so sure.”

I sigh and bring out one of my computer cubes. I wave my fingers over the top and bring up the feed from my bedroom, zoomed in to the bed where a now recognizable, but still obviously battered Loki is lying, unconscious. 

Suddenly everyone in the room is talking at once. 

Natasha slams her fist into the table, silencing the others. “There’s no way we don’t lock that guy up and leave him to rot.”

Tony lifts his chin at me. “Go ahead, Princess, tell them the whole story.” I raise an eyebrow at the somewhat accurate nickname, before focusing on the group again.

I stand up and start to pace as I tell them what happened. About the dream, that wasn’t actually a dream. About the beat up man, being tortured on the ship. The bargain that I didn’t realize I actually made until it was too late.

Steve cut in, “Wait, why would it matter if you made a bargain with someone? If you had to you could just break your word.”

I put my finger to my lips in thought. “In my travels I’ve come across many different individuals, most with amazing abilities. In one impulsive trip, I had one of these individuals sneak up on me, and I was exposed to his abilities. One of the most dominant traits of his people, the fae, as a whole is how binding their bargains are. This is how they mark a bargain between two individuals.” I pull back my sleeve to show the black lines all along my arm. “That trait surfaced when I was talking to Loki and…” I trail off, letting him piece it together.

Natasha folded her arms stubbornly in front of her, “Right, so lock both of them up. Problem solved.” She gives me a challenging look.

Fury puts his hands out to both Natasha and me. “No one agreed to locking Aleanna up.” He folds his arms and frowns at the image of Loki. “You’ve definitely complicated things by bringing him here though.”

As he’s speaking Loki sits up in bed and clutches his stomach, he struggles to stand. I jerk to my feet. “Something's wrong.” I shake my head, winnow myself to my room, and reach for Loki.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Left it on a cliffhanger- sorry. *evil grin* Anyone know what's wrong with Loki?


	29. Some unExpected Guests | Tony

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 5 kudos! 138 hits! You guys are awesome.
> 
> This next chapter is a little longer. Enjoy! =)

#  _ Some unExpected Guests | Tony _

One minute Aleanna was next to Tony and the next she was gone. The group looks at the image of her room, watching her appear and cautiously reach out to touch Loki. Tony could see him stiffen at the contact. He says something to Aleanna, but there wasn’t any sound with the image. “I wish I knew what they were saying.”

_ “Don’t touch me, Witch.” _ Clint was staring at the image, reading their lips and translating. 

_____

_ Aleanna’s hand falls to her side. “I’m sorry. I had no idea that this would happen.” _

_ Loki sways and slowly sits down on the bed. Aleanna drifts closer to him. “Can I get you anything? Food, water?” _

_ “I want nothing from you, save for my freedom.” Loki sneers to her. “Do you not remember what I offered for my bargain?” _

_ Aleanna whispered softly,  _ “ _ I would be ever grateful and would never want to leave your presence. If we should part ways,” Her breath catches and she stops. _

_ Loki looks at her and continues for her. “If we should part ways, may I feel the pain of a hot poker in my chest until I would return to you. _ ”

_ She sinks down on the bed next to him. _

_ Loki shifts, trying to find a less uncomfortable spot. “I can assure you, the pain the bargain forced me to feel is as excruciating as the real experience.” _

_ Aleanna gently brings her hand up, almost touching Loki’s arm then drawing it back. “Know that I will make this right, even if it means my death.” They sit there quietly with one another, both lost in thought. _

The conference room is quiet. Natasha shakes her head. “That is messed up. I almost feel sorry for Loki.” Clint turns to speak to her and she raises her hand to halt his protest. “I said almost.”

\-----

Aleanna stands from the bed suddenly, Loki slowly, painfully, shifts to his feet. She turns her head as if listening. “Something is coming.” She grabs tightly to Loki’s arm and they disappear from the image in the conference room. 

\-----

Fury stares at the vacant image. “Clint?”

Clint shakes his head. “I almost didn’t catch it, I think she said ‘Something is coming.’ before she just.” He makes a little poof motion with his fingers and shrugs. “Honestly I didn’t see-”

There’s a stirring in the air by the door and Aleanna and Loki appear. Aleanna waves her hands in front of her, making gestures towards the empty side of the room. A shield of energy surrounds the group.

“Ms. James?” Fury says tightly. 

Before he can say more the room suddenly has a bright golden circle in it. Two individuals step out, the first blocking the view of the second, as he has a large flowing red cape around his shoulders. 

Aleanna holds her hands out, ready to defend herself and the others. “Hello, Sorcerer.”

The man straightens his shoulders, “Dr. Stephen Strange, Master of the Mystical Arts. I believe this is a friend of yours.” He nods to the group and then shifts to the side to expose the second man.

“Bruce?” Natasha says quietly.

He fiddles with his sleeves and looks at her. “Hey, Tasha,” he responds softly.

Natasha stands and walks to him. As she gets closer Aleanna drops the protective shield she had around the group. Natasha wraps her arms around Bruce and he hugs her back tightly.

The Doctor clears his throat. “Well, it’s been fun, but, I’ve a sanctum to protect and-” He stops as his eyes snag on Loki. “Your brother said you were both leaving Earth after you collected your father. Why have you returned?” Aleanna shifts slightly farther in front of Loki.

Bruce looks to where Loki is standing. “Loki? You’re alive. I thought you were a goner after Thanos grabbed you and took you back to his ship. Heimdall used his power to send me here to warn the Avengers that Thanos was coming. How did you get here?”

Clint frowns at Bruce. “Loki was with you? Out in space someplace? Like helping you?” 

Bruce nods. “Well yeah, we all worked together to get off Sakaar and then Loki came right at the perfect moment to help defeat his sister and save the people of Asgard.”

“So Loki is a… good guy?” Clint presses, clearly sceptical.

“Well, yeah,” Bruce responds. “I guess. I mean, he helped, and we all got off Asgard before Ragnarok, so I’d say he’s more good than bad these days.”

Fury’s face turns contemplative, then he nods his head. “Very well, Loki will be allowed to remain free so long as he behaves himself.”

Aleanna throws her hands up in the air. “Wonderful, you trust the guy with multiple personalities, but you won’t trust me.” She walks to Dr. Strange and holds out her hand. “Aleanna,” she says by way of introduction, “pleasure to meet you.” They shake hands. Her eyes shift to his cape and she tilts her head as if listening. She suddenly shifts into a graceful curtsy and coos, “Aren’t you a dove, a pleasure to meet you too.” She holds her hand out and the cloak on Dr. Strange’s shoulders lifts a piece of itself to gently grasp her hand. 

Tony leans over to speak to Clint, “Okay, now I’ve seen everything.”

Aleanna removes her hand from it’s grasp and takes a step back. “Dr. Strange, are you committed to protecting the Earth?

He narrows his eyes, but nods to her, “Yes, of course. That’s the purpose of those in my order.” 

She looks to Fury and jerks a thumb in Strange’s direction. “Why wasn’t this guy invited to the meeting?”

Fury gestures to the chairs across from the Avengers. Strange’s cloak removes itself from his shoulders and drifts over to one of the chairs. Strange takes another. Nat and Bruce sit next to one another. Bruce looks down at the packet in front of him and begins leafing through the notes, mumbling to himself.

Aleanna drifts back to Loki and takes his arm to help him to a chair. He jerks his arm out of her grasp. “Unhand me, Witch, I am a god, I need not your help!”

“Little ‘g.’” Aleanna rolls her eyes and grabs his elbow more firmly and steers him to a chair. “Besides,” she continues “being worshipped as a god by a less advanced people does not make you a god. News flash, humans aren’t impressed anymore.”

Loki eases himself into the chair and shoots a glare at Aleanna. She returns the glare with a smirk, but remains quiet.

“S.H.I.E.L.D. has no record of sorcerers protecting Earth. Dr. Strange, where is this sanctum located?” Fury questions.

“The London Sanctum Sanctorum was destroyed, however Hong Kong and New York are still actively protecting Earth. I reside at the New York sanctum,” is the reply.

Tony raises an eyebrow. “S.H.I.E.L.D. certainly is slacking.” Tony lifts his hand to indicate Dr. Strange, “Harry Potter here is practically our next door neighbor and we’ve got no clue who he is.” He’s met with a glare from Fury.

“Let’s move on. If we don’t start making some plans we’re going to be here until this time tomorrow.” Fury says.

Tony pipes up. “Great, to speed things up, let me summarize for everyone. Thanos is the bad guy. He wants the Infinity Stones. We’ve got a list,” he pauses and brings up the image of the mural Aleanna drew, “of potential allies and enemies, including these guys in space. Rock of Ages here” he points to Loki, “is apparently on our side in this. Bruce is back after two years in who-knows-where. We know the location of the Mind Stone, and hopefully the special school kids can keep it safe, tucked away with them. Harry Potter here is joining the team.” He looks around the room. “Did I miss anything?”

“Yes.” Aleanna turns to Tony. “We know the location of more than just the Mind Stone.” In response to his questioning look she points to Strange. “Dr. Strange.”

He frowns, then holds his hands in front of his chest, moving them until there is a green glow from his necklace and they eye on it opens slightly. “The Eye of Agamotto contains the Time Stone.” He releases his magic and the eye closes once again.

Aleanna’s gaze drifts to Loki. He returns a level stare in return.

…

“Loki.”

A frown builds on his face and he holds his hand in front of him. The Tesseract flashes into being in his hand. “The Space Stone is also accounted for.” The cube fades back out again and he drops his hand.

Fury looks around the room. “So, we have three stones. That leaves three unaccounted for.”

“Thanos has the Power Stone.” Loki responds. 

Aleanna’s eyes jerk to him. “That can only mean that Nova Corp was completely destroyed. They’re usually the keepers of that stone.” She rubs her hands down her face, then looks up to see everyone staring at her. “Yeah?”

“Not going to get used to this multiple realities thing.” Tony says softly. Tony hits a button on his wrist device and the mural splits into three groups of images. “Right, so here’s everyone I couldn’t place in a ‘good guys’ or ‘bad guys’ category. Here’s the good guys and here’s Thanos and his evil minions. Oops, hang on.” Tony reaches out to the image groupings and grabs ‘Loki’ and moves him from the ‘evil minions’ to the ‘good guys’ group. “Sorry, Rock of Ages.”

“Will you desist from calling me that!” Loki grumbles.

“People, lets focus on the problems at hand.” This is from Fury. “We should figure out which stone he is going after next.”

“Well, he still thinks he has Loki, and is no doubt trying to gain access to the Space Stone through him.” Aleanna says.

“How can he not know that Loki is no longer in his possession?” Fury asks skeptically.

Aleanna stands and moves closer to the cube she left in the center of the table. She flicks her wrist and the image of her bedroom disappears. She starts moving her hands rapidly, moving through several screens on the holographic display. “I will not be able to hold the feed long.”

She concentrates and sends a pulse of power through her hands to the display and an image of Loki chained to a chair is in the center of the table. Blood is dripping down his face, his mouth is swollen and also dripping with blood. His clothes are shredded and hanging open, deep cuts running over his chest. He’s laughing softly. “Is that supposed to convince me to give you the Tesseract?” He asks softly. “If I give it to you, you’ll kill me instantly. Perhaps if you beg?” The image’s face suddenly jerks to the side as if it’s been hit. He grins maniacally in response. The real Loki is looking at the image with a haunted look on his face.

The image fades and Aleanna sinks weakly into her chair. She magically pulls the cube to her hand and holds it up. “I left one of these on Thanos’s ship. It looks and acts just like Loki. When he dies from his injuries or the ruse is discovered the device will disintegrate.”

All eyes turn to Loki. He stiffens and schools his features. When no one says anything he speaks. “Well, I couldn’t very well let the Mad Titan take the Tesseract. I may be the God of Mischief, but I am not entirely insane.”

Bruce scrunches up his face. “Then why did you push your brother out the airlock of the Statesman?”

Loki is met with several angry faces. He raises his hands in supplication, “Thor would have fought valiantly, but he would have fought to his own death. He would have rallied the remaining Asgardians to his side, and it would have been slaughter. Thanos is too powerful. I removed Thor from the situation and made the act appear as if I was trying to save my own skin. When Thanos captured me, trying to escape the floundering ship, he took me and left the failing ship its doom.” He folds his arms defensively over his chest. “I’m sure you can piece together the rest of what happened.”

Fury shakes his head. “There’s one thing I’m confused about. Why was there a refugee ship leaving Asgard in the first place?”

Bruce speaks up, “Asgard was attacked by Hela. Umm that’s Thor and Loki’s older sister.”

“And Odin, where was he in all this?” Fury questions.

“Dead. Father died, releasing Hela from her prison.” Loki answers softly. His eyes filled with memories of Odin’s last moments.

“So where does that leave us.” Natasha asks. “Thor dead of exposure, a disabled ship in the middle of space.”

“Thor is not dead.” Loki replies. “Do you really think the vacuum of space could claim his life? No, my brother lives.”

“So we need to contact that ship and see if we can help them get to Earth. Perhaps they can locate Thor and pull him back into the ship.” Natasha reasons.

“SpaCT.” Fury states.

“Sir?” 

“We’ve developed some technology to try to contact Asgard. Maybe we can get a message out to this ship and see what they can tell us. Bruce, I want you down in the lab, working with Agents Williams and Yager to get this puzzle figured out. Agent Romanoff, contact our friends in Wakanda, fill them in on what we know, and ask them to prepare for the invasion.”

“Bucky,” Steve suddenly speaks up. Fury turns to Steve in confusion. Steve continues, “Bucky is recovering from Hydra’s brainwashing in Wakanda.” He makes eye contact with Natasha. “Nat, ask them to send him to us.”

Natasha nods, then Fury continues. “Tony, contact War Machine. We’ll also need the Falcon and anyone else you can think of.” He looks around the table. “I want the rest of you to start running drills together. The Avengers need to remember what it’s like to work as a team.” Fury stands. “Alright people, dismissed. Let's get to work.”  
Fury’s gaze lands on Aleanna, “One moment, Aleanna,” He pauses and looks between Loki and Aleanna. “I am pleased to offer my congratulations, Ms. James. You’re on babysitting duty. Loki is your responsibility for the time being. If either of you becomes a pain in my ass, I will toss you  _ both  _ in the brig so I don’t have to deal with either of you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Did you get the "guy with multiple personalities" joke? Heh. Well, I amuse myself anyway... ;)


	30. The Stubbornness of Males | Aleanna

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The story hit the 150 views mark! Yay! =)

#  _ The Stubbornness of Males | Aleanna _

Loki stiffly removes himself from his chair. I stand next to him and reach for his arm to steady him. “Desist in trying to touch me.” He softly tells me.

I tuck my hands in the pockets of my jeans. I’ve been having a hard time watching Loki struggle. “So stubborn.” I can’t help but comment. “If you weren’t so pigheaded about it, I could save you a significant amount of pain.”

“No thank you, Witch, I’d rather the pain, than the debt I would undoubtedly gain from the interaction.”

I roll my eyes. “That is ridiculous. Very well, your highness,” I motion to the door and as he walks by I lean in. “If you faint, I will simply carry you to the nearest bed so you can rest.” Loki’s shoulders stiffen at this announcement and I feel a wave of irritation roll from him. I walk around him through the door and start up the stairs towards the suites.

“Aleanna?” Steve calls to me. I pause for him to catch up. “I wondered if we could train together like Fury suggested. I’ve never trained with you, what with being locked away for the past two years.”

I smile kindly at Steve. “Captain Rogers, I’m not an official Avenger, I just recently got mixed in with you lot. I haven’t had any combat training with any of the Avengers yet.”

Steve gives her a friendly smile. “Well then, I’ll see who I can round up and we can all start training together to see how this is going to work.” I nod my consent and Steve leaves to look for more training partners.

“Cute.” Comes a snarky voice behind me. “He seems to be very eager to get to know you. I would be cautious if he asks if the two of you can get together after hours to work on some additional... training.”

I make a face. “Don’t be so crude, surely it’s beneath you. He’s not even remotely sexually interested in me.”

Loki shifts to the next stair and stops to face me. ‘What makes you so sure?”

“No increase in heart rate, no release of norepinephrine, or dilation of his pupils, which is a sign of dopamine release. Humans have a great many tells when it comes to their emotions.” I shrug and continue walking up the steps in silence. 

Loki frowns and considers me a moment before asking, “So, are we to go to the training area then?”

I turn to Loki with a sympathetic look. “Oh Loki, I’m sorry. I forgot your couldn’t leave my-”

“Forget it,” Loki cuts me off sharply. “I’ll sit and observe.” He moves faster despite my protests.

We arrive at the doors to the training room and I open it to allow Loki to enter, slipping in behind him. I start walking towards the back where the changing rooms are, but then stop when I realize that Loki is essentially glued to my side for the time being. I shift my fingers into a series of shapes and then touch my clothes, they shift from jeans and a sleeveless silk blouse to form fitting black stretch pants and a dark grey tank top. I loosen my arm sheaths and lay my fighting knives on the floor.

“That explains why my clothes are in considerably better condition than I last remember them being in.” Loki says dryly. He’s right, when I first laid him down his body was covered in blood and there were numerous cuts in his leather pants and jacket. I just gave up and used alchemy to remove the blood and the tears in his clothes.

Loki walks towards one of those tall plyometric boxes that people use for box jumping and settles onto it. He pulls out a book and begins reading. I walk onto the floor mats and stretch down to my toes. I drop into the splits and then stand and lift my foot, supporting my leg next to me in a standing splits. I repeat on the other side, then move to the equipment. I grab the bar on the salmon ladder and begin shifting myself up the rungs of the ladder with the bar. I reach the top, then work my way back down carefully.

I drop from the bar to the floor and reclaim my knives. I start walking through one of my favorite knife katas. The door opens when I’m only a few moves from the end of the kata. Several of the Avengers step inside the training facility.

When I finish Natasha walks up to me. “You move like you’ve been handling knives since birth.”

I shrug and slip the knives in their sheaths again, setting them against the wall so they are out of the way. “I had quite a few years to master my knives.”

“We haven’t officially met, I’m Natasha, but you can call me Nat.” Natasha holds her hand out to me, I shake it.

“Aleanna,” I reply and she gives me a half smile.

“Nice to meet you.” She says and I repeat the sentiment back to her.

Steve walks up to Natasha and they start sparring one another. I lean against the wall and watch them. After a few minutes of punching and kicking back and forth, Natasha locks her legs around Steve’s neck and twists around pulling him to the floor. Natasha lands high on his chest, her knees on his shoulders. She holds her fist back, ending the sparring match with the indication that she could punch him out. Steve blushes at the situation and Nat pushes back onto her feet, helping him up.

She walks over to me. “Care to spar? I could use a partner that doesn’t start squirming when lady parts are involved.”

Steve opens his mouth to say something in his defense, but she cuts him off, “Relax, sparring with Aleanna will give me a chance to get to know her fighting style.”

I walk out onto the mats and face Natasha. We trade blows back and forth for several minutes. She goes for the takedown and I barely slip to the side. I’m not up to even half my magic reserves so I’m not using any to augment my speed or abilities. I grin at her and try a takedown of my own. She easily avoids it, so I feint to the side and then kick out at her, catching her in the back. 

“Ooof!” She shakes her head and grins. She quickly twists and takes me feet from under me, I land on my back and she’s on top of me, fist winding back. I quickly twist us around so I’ve got the top mount instead and lock my forearm against her neck. She brings a wrist up, twists it under the lock and flips me off over her head, following with her own body so she is again on top. I tuck my leg up and get a foot into her stomach, launching her to my side. We both lay on the floor a moment, looking at each other and breathing heavily. Nat starts laughing, and I join in.

I slowly make my way to my feet and offer her a hand. “Nice moves.”

She takes the hand and I pull her up. “Same to you.” I pull some hand wraps from the supplies at the side of the room and start wrapping my hands. “Hey Steve, how about some kickboxing?” I smirk at him. “I promise no groundwork.”

He pulls on a pair of gloves and stands toe to toe with me. We move in a flurry and jabs, kicks and punches. Steve is light on his feet and fast. I shake my head. “You’re holding back, come on, punch me like you mean it!” Steve increases his speed, but he’s still pulling his punches. “Come on. I’m a big girl, I can take it.” I make a silly face at him.

He frowns. “I’m going to hurt you, then I’ll feel bad.”

I sneak a punch through his guard, and it pops him in the cheek. He shakes his head and refocuses. He runs through a series of punches and kicks and finally hits me with a strong kick to the upper arm.

“Very nice, Cap.” I say as I dance away from him.

“Apparently, you’ve been away from me for too long, Stevie. I need to teach you how to treat a lady again.” Both Steve and I look to the door where a man with a metal arm, The Winter Soldier, is standing. Behind him are a man and a young woman. Steve walks towards the door and Bucky meets him halfway. They both laugh and do that manly back-clapping hug before clutching tightly to one another in a bearhug. 

“Bucky, I missed you, man.” Steve mumbles into Bucky’s shoulder.

“I missed you too buddy.”

“Oh, thank goodness you are here,” the girl comments. “You should have heard his complaining about you being locked up. He was like ‘Steve Rogers is the most honorable guy I know.’ and ‘He’s Captain, freaking America. How can they just lock him up like that?’” She says with a huge grin. 

“Thank you Shuri, I’m sure they needed the details of our flight over here,” the man says. I realize he is King T’Challa, the Black Panther. 

Shuri hmms in response, then walks over to where Loki is sitting. “Is this another broken white boy for me to fix?” She asks eagerly.

Loki straightens to standing, an indignant look on his face. “I am not broken, nor am I a mere ‘white boy’ I am a god! I do not appreciate your levity, you-”

Shuri cuts him off with a raised hand, and turns away, “Yeah, yeah, you like to hear yourself talk more than my brother.” Loki is left with a sour look on his face.

T’Challa frowns at her. “Shuri,” he says warningly. 

She shrugs, “What? All you men, so self-important. You try to hide your flaws and hurts behind those serious masks. Pfft.” She makes a duck face at her brother. “It is not weakness to ask for help when you need it.”

“Spoken for the truth,” I say, unable to keep quiet any longer. I hold my hand out to Shuri, “Aleanna.”

Introductions are made, then T’Challa motions to the door and a guard walks in with a case. “I almost forgot. Captain Rogers, this is for you.” He opens the case, and hands a new vibranium shield to Steve.

Tony walks in with a young man behind him. He greets T’Challa with a handshake and a smile. “Welcome to the Avenger’s home base. How was the flight over?” 

“It was fine, I am glad your people chose to contact us. Wakanda will be ready, when the time comes.” T’Challa replies. “Tony, I wanted to say…” He looks around the room, “ to all of you, it is time for bygones to be bygones. Forgive old hurts. The lives of everyone on Earth depend on those of us who can fight in this war. If we are fighting between ourselves, we will never defeat our foe.”

“Hundo P!” the teen next to Tony pipes up.

“Yeet!” comes a response from Shuri. She smiles at the boy.

Tony shakes his head at the teens. “How is that still the English language.” He motions to the teens. “Shuri, Peter Parker. Peter, Princess Shuri of Wakanda.”

Peter swallows hard and holds his hand out to Shuri, “Nice to meet you.” They shake hands, then Tony introduces the rest of the room to Peter.

After the conversation dies down, T’Challa walks to the door, motioning to Shuri to follow him. “Goodbye for now, Wakana must continue preparations.”

Shuri shakes her head, “Brother, I am staying here. I believe I can be of some help with sending a message to their allies in space.” She crosses her arms in an “x” across her chest quickly to her brother, and he crosses his back. 

Tony pauses in thought, then makes a come here motion with his hand. “Peter, I want you to take Shuri down to the lab, see what you both can do to help get our message out.”

“Yes, Mr. Stark.” Peter walks through the door with Shuri.

Nat turns to Bucky and Steve, “Guys versus girls?”

She turns back and raises an eyebrow to me. I walk forward, adjusting my handwraps. “I’m in... unless the boys are scared?” I grin.

Steve looks to Bucky and he shrugs. “I’m ready if you are.”

They stand across from Nat and I, switching into fighting positions. Steve has his shield and Nat pulls out some collapsible fighting batons.

We shift in and out of each other’s space, throwing kicks, punches and blocks. I start to get a feel for the way that Bucky and Steve work together. It’s obvious they’ve fought many battles together. It’s not long before I realize that Bucky and Steve aren’t going to give up any time soon. Natasha and I continue to try to best them for a solid 20 minutes without success.

Steve finally waves Natasha back, “Can we call it a tie?”

Nat grins at him and nods.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Writing fight scenes is hard, hopefully you were able to follow the action.


	31. Open Hostility | Tony

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all so much for the views and Kudos. =)

#  _ Open Hostility | Tony _

The four complete their training set together and Aleanna walks over to the mini fridge to get bottles of water. She tosses waters to Nat, Steve and Bucky. Aleanna closes the fridge with her own water in hand.

Clint walks in the door, and Tony greets him, “Hey Legolas, come for some training?”

Aleanna starts coughing, apparently having swallowed her water wrong. She waves a hand a turns away, indicating she’s fine.

Clint walks to archery range and begins loosing arrows into the targets. Steve and Bucky move to the weights and start lifting. Tony walks to Aleanna, who is standing next to Loki. “Hey Princess.” He says in greeting.

She smiles back to him, the motions to Clint with her hand that is holding the bottle of water. “He that good? That you've nicknamed him ‘Legolas’?”

Tony looks from Clint’s form to Aleanna. “He is called ‘Hawkeye’ for a reason.”

Loki eyes Aleanna, and surprises them both by speaking. “Have you any skill with a bow, Witch?”

“Well, Puny God,” she smiles as he grits his teeth at her new nickname for him, “I’ve learned from one of the best archers of the age.”

Tony raises his brows at the comment. “Sounds like we’ve a match to start. Hawkeye!” He calls out. “Aleanna here is questioning your skill with a bow. Care for a little competition?”

Clint turns and shrugs. “Sure.” He releases another arrow into the bullseye.

Aleanna walks over to him and starts digging in her dimensional pocket. The pocket is attached to her at her waist, so most the time it just appears as though she’s digging in her pants pocket. She’s having trouble finding what she’s looking for though, so her arm stretches further and further into the pocket. Hawkeye looks at Aleanna, then to Tony, to see if he’s seeing this, then back at Aleanna. “That’s really bizarre,” he comments.

She pauses mid search and looks around at everyone staring at her. She then chuckles and stretches a little further, grasping the familiar weight of her bow. “Ah hah.” She pulls the bow through the pocket lifting it hand over hand until the entire weapon is out. She strings it and walks to the rack next to the range, pulling out a quiver filled with arrows and strapping it to her back. She pulls an arrow from the quiver and examines it carefully. “Right. Let’s begin.” She nocks the arrow and lets it fly in one swift movement. It strikes the target in the center of the bullseye.

Clint takes aim and shoots again, his arrow slips into the bullseye right next to his previous shot.

Aleanna smiles to him, nocks an arrow, still looking at him, and lets it fly. The arrow sinks into the bullseye right next to the previous one.

Clint mirrors her, shooting while looking at her. He hits his mark. He then stands with his back to the target and shoots again, directly into the bullseye. “Anything to top that?”

Aleanna motions for Clint to take a step back and then closes her eyes and does a series of flips and spins, launching arrows down the row of targets, hitting the bullseye in each one, the repeats the motions on the way back to her starting target. There’s now two arrows embedded in each target. One splitting the other in half.

Clint’s eyes move to where Loki is sitting, and catches Loki muttering something under his breath. Anger flashes in his eyes and he swiftly draws back and launches an arrow at Loki. Aleanna flashes out of existence next to Clint and appears in front of Loki, catching the arrow inches from her chest. She steps forward and tosses it to the ground.

“Clint!” Natasha scolds, “What the heck was that?” Clint walks towards Loki pulling another arrow from his quiver and aiming it at Loki. 

“Got anything else to say?” He holds the bow, still drawn tight, in Loki’s face.

Aleanna maneuvers herself so she is standing between Loki and Clint again. The arrow is pointed at the hollow of her neck. “No, he doesn’t.” Then softer, “I didn’t realize you’d read his lips. I would have told him to stop sooner, had I known.”

Clint glares at Loki one last time before releasing the tension on the bow and walking out of the room.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not the longest chapter. If it seems like some of the characters react oddly to Aleanna's pocket dimension technology, there is a reason for that... And an explanation coming in a few chapters. =)


	32. Sandbagging | Aleanna

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which we see some sparring.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A short but fun chapter.

#  _Sandbagging | Aleanna_

Soon the rest of the Avengers leave the room as well and Loki and I are left alone.

_Looks like bird brain is going to have to pick up a new profession._ I shake my head as I remember Loki’s snide remark about Clint.

“Can you not contain yourself when it comes to taunting these guys?” I flick my eyes to Loki’s, watching his reaction.

Loki bristles. “I don’t see why I should have to try to make friends with them.” He re-positions himself on the box slowly.

I roll my eyes and grab his arm attempting to yank him up. “Stop feigning a greater injury than what you have. The potion I gave you while you slept was powerful enough to bring you back from the brink of death, and while it takes longer for it to fully travel through some individuals, it should have restored you by now. You are greatly exaggerating your remaining injuries.”

He stands and shakes my hand off his arm, looks at me, then breaks into a grin meant to disarm me.

I roll my eyes and walk to where my fighting knives are sitting. I unstring my bow and slip it into my dimensional pocket and then re-strap the fighting knife sheaths to my arms. I pull the knives out and face Loki. “Come, Puny God, lets see how rusty you are.”

He wrinkles up his nose. “Rusty?” His flings both hands down and daggers appear in them. “I’ll show you ‘rusty’ Witch!” We begin circling each other.

We twist and turn threading our weapons in and out of each other’s blocks and dodges. I frown at him. “You’re holding back.”

“As are you. Stop coddling me, it’s insulting. I’ve been fighting with daggers for centuries.” He says back stiffly.

We both step back and frown at each other. I finally nod. “Very well, your best, my best, no holding back.” We both increase our speed and aggressively strike at one another.

Loki and I soon get into a dance-like rhythm and move faster than the human eye can track. I winnow from in front of him, to near the wall behind him. Loki spins around and whips one of his daggers at me. I catch it with one of my knives, and can feel my face twist into an almost feral grin. He begins walking forward and again tosses a dagger, another appearing in each of his hands.

I deflect this one and suddenly Loki is in front of me, dagger at my throat, a scant inch between us. We are both breathing heavily, having been sparring together for almost an hour. “Yield,” he commands between breaths. “I’ve bested you.” He digs the dagger in a little.

Our eyes lock and I relax, allowing every inch of my body to flow against his. He jerks away from me as if he’s been burned and his jaw tightens. I let a soft chuckle out. “Or, perhaps it is a draw?” He turns away and magics his daggers away.

Loki turns back around. “You are reckless and impulsive. Both will get your killed in the heat of battle.”

I walk to the box he had been sitting on earlier, and gracefully drop onto it. I drop my fighting knives and sheaths into my pocket dimension. I then pull a sweatshirt from the void space and pull it on, slipping my thumbs through the thumb holes. “You are arrogant and overconfident. I would argue that both would get you killed as well.”

“Overconfident?” He frowns at me. “I am not.”

“You are so sure of your superiority to the ‘mortals’ that surround you that you’ve become overconfident in your abilities.” I reply.

“I _am_ superior to the mortals that surround us.” He is standing in front of me with his arms folded stubbornly across his chest.

“Loki,” I say softly, “Humanity has come so far in the past century. They are truly remarkable. You should not stand firmly in your superiority, but rather marvel at how amazing they are. Imagine how much they can change and improve in another century.”

“You speak as if you’ve stood witness to centuries of mankind’s growth and folly…” Loki trails off after a moment and narrows his eyes at me. “How old are you?”

I meet his eyes and decide on admitting the truth. “I have lived over 2,500 years.” I see surprise in his eyes, and continue. “I have not spent much of that time among humanity, but rather among an immortal race. Immortality is as much a curse as a blessing. The longer one lives the more likely one is to become complacent. Instead of working towards bettering oneself, those of long lives start to see themselves as superior and stop seeking to improve. They fail to reach their full potential. I would caution you so that you would not meet the same fate.”

He ponders this and I unfold myself from the box and stand in front of him. I reach my hand out to him. After a moment’s hesitation, he takes it and places it in the crook of his arm. “Come, Puny God,” I says in a teasing voice, “lets meet with the others and see what we’re having for supper.”

“Witch,” he replies, no anger behind the word.


	33. Takeout | Tony

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tony's been checking surveillance videos...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another shorter chapter, the next chapter is longer and pushes the story line forward a bit. =)
> 
> Guys, I'm so happy to have 6 kudos on this now. Really, thanks very much.

#  _ Takeout | Tony _

Tony sits in his lab, a stunned look on his face. He closes out the screen that had been playing the feed from Aleanna and Loki’s sparring session. He almost hadn’t checked his security cameras, as Aleanna had admitted to tampering with the video before, but curiosity won out, and he was very glad for it. He had to slow the playback by 40 percent to actually see Aleanna and Loki’s movements when neither held back. The speed at which the two of them could move was incredible. He also was surprised at how quickly Aleanna has warmed to Loki. She seems to trust the trickster, and it has him worried.

Anthony steps up behind him. “Shall we continue work on the nano-suit?” 

Tony waves him off. “Not yet, I’ll be back later this evening. I’m going to catch up with them in the common area and,” He raises both his eyebrows at Anthony, “order some takeout. I plan to get some answers from Aleanna.” Tony replies.

*****

Tony turns the corner to the living space just as Loki and Aleanna walk up. “Hope you like Chinese, Princess, I just had F.R.I.D.A.Y. order takeout.”

Aleanna nods. “I love Chinese food.”

“Great, they’ll have it to us in about a half hour.” Aleanna and Tony make small talk and Loki becomes bored and ignores them. He looks around and then walks to the oversized chair in the living room. He sits and pulls out another book and begins to read, looking up every few minutes to see that Aleanna is still in the room. 

Loki looks up to see Aleanna has started walking towards the hallway with Tony. The book vanishes from his hand and he jumps up from the chair, his long strides eating up the space between him and Aleanna.

She catches the movement from the corner of her eye and gives him a questioning look before shaking her head. “Sorry, Loki. I’m so not used to being attached at the hip with someone.”

Loki swallows at the sensual images that flash through his mind at these words. Tony cuts through his thoughts, “‘Attached at the hip’ is a really a strange idiom.” He looks at Aleanna, “Did you know it originated from the phenomenon of conjoined twins?” His eyes flick to Loki, “So, you really can’t let her out of your sight?”

Loki gives him a look of irritation. “I would think the answer was obvious, since you witnessed my pain earlier.”

Aleanna quickly explains where they were going. “They’ve made progress enough in the lab that they’re going to try to reach out to the Statesman. We were going down to see them send the message.” She wraps her hand around Loki’s forearm again walks next to him down the hall. Tony falls into step next to Aleanna.

Tony is still thinking about the bargain Aleanna and Loki made. He looks at Aleanna. “We’ll have to bring some blankets to your room for your pet Asgardian to sleep in. I hope neither of you snore.”

Aleanna rolls her eyes. “I usually don’t sleep at all. Once my abilities all settle back into place, I’m hoping that remains true. It took me ages to learn to rest properly.”

“‘Rest properly,’” Tony scoffs. “You have something against sleeping?”

“I have something against being unable to sleep or fall into  _ silent consciousness _ ,” she responds. At Tony’s blank look she tries again, “it’s a form of mediation.” He nods and she continues, “Rest is important, at its worst, my sleeplessness caused severe paranoia and even psychosis. I do not wish to repeat the experience.”

They walk in silence for a bit before Loki speaks up, “You will let me know if you can’t sleep. I would much rather I am aware of whether I am bound to a mad woman. I’d rather you didn’t attempt to slit my throat in my sleep or some such thing.”

Aleanna nods, “Of course.”

Tony just shakes his head and the surreal conversation.


	34. Phone Home | Aleanna

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was forever painting walls today... I intended to publish this earlier.
> 
> Here's a chapter. Current word count: 67,067. I think I've written to between 5-10 chapters of the end. Hopefully I haven't left any plot holes to try to stuff an explanation into. ;)

#  _ Phone Home | Aleanna _

Bruce and Shuri are deep in a discussion regarding the best way to pinpoint the ship they want to communicate with. Peter is running through calculations one more time, filling the display with a tangled web of mathematical equations. I scan through what they’ve done so far. “Broaden the area that your message goes out to. Even if the signal is weaker, it will have a higher chance of reaching someone out there, once communication is established, you can work together to narrow and strengthen the signal.”

The discussion dies down and Shuri and Bruce nod in agreement. They begin re-calibrating the machine to send the signal out. After a nod from Bruce, Shuri presses the final sequence. She turns to Bruce, “You’re live, send out the message.”

Bruce clears his throat, “Statesman, this is a message from Earth. Statesman do you copy?” He waits for a moment then tries again. “To any Earth-friendly vessel within range of this message, please respond. Sending exact frequency and location to transmit to now. Hello, is anyone out there?” 

Softer, under his breath he says “Please, someone be out there.”

Shuri reaches up to adjust the signal, “Wait,” I say. “I think…”

“Banner?” Comes a deep voice in reply.

The feed chatters, then another, almost snide voice cuts in. “Back off muscles, this calls for brains,” it says. Then “Hey bozos, shift your signal positive 4 degrees by negative point 05,” comes the snarky voice again.

Shuri begins to make the adjustments. The feed starts mostly grey and black, then clears to a view of an animal paw, then a snout, before the raccoon backs up and we can see the whole crew sitting staring back at us. 

“There,” the raccoon says, “Congratulations, you made contact. Now whaddaya want?”

“Talking... raccoon?” Tony mumbles softly to Bruce.

“Oh good,” I say. “The Guardians of the Galaxy.”

Tony slowly blinks in my direction and Loki comes to stand to my side.

“Brother?” Thor is again pushing forward.

“Hello, Thor,” Loki responds quietly.

“You live!” Thor has tears in his eyes and a big smile on his face. “I had feared the worst, when I saw Thanos’s ship depart so quickly. Heimdall said that you had been taken. He,” Thor pauses, becoming more subdued. “He is currently is medical stasis, Thanos impaled him upon Hofund and left him to die. We must go to,” he is cut off by another voice.

“Hey, I’m in charge here.” The man near the front makes a shooing motion to Thor and Thor shakes his head as he backs up.

“I have missed you brother, and I am pleased you made it to Earth. How did you free yourself from the Titan?” Thor questions.

“I was offered a bargain I couldn’t refuse.” I look down to see Loki rubbing his leather sleeve, over the arm with the bargain’s markings.

When I look up, I meet Loki’s eyes, his gaze intense. I turn back to the crew. “Thanos believes he still has Loki. Don’t ask me for details on how that is possible, we don’t have time to get into them now. We believe he will try to get the Reality Stone before he comes to Earth.”

A grim looking green woman leans forward to speak. “Peter, we need to stop him from getting the Reality Stone.” I realize she’s Gamora. 

I seek threads of what will happen on that path and then close my eyes. “Consider the Reality Stone already lost.” I make eye contact with Peter.

He scrunches up his face, “Pfft, that’s quitter talk. We’re not quitters. We’re the Guardians of the Galaxy!”

“Star Lord.” I say with frustration in my voice, Peter’s response of ‘Finally!’ is cut off as I continue. Out of the corner of my eye I see Loki mouth “Star Lord” in disgusted confusion. “It is folly for you to try to get the Reality Stone. If you value your life you will come to Earth as fast as you can.”

Peter sits a little straighter, “I’m not afraid to die for the safety of the galaxy.” He responds stubbornly.

“And what about her life?” I point to Gamora.

Peter frowns. “Hey, hey, hey. Keep Gamora out of this.”

I lock my eyes on Gamora, “You know why the Mad Titan seeks you, do you not, Child of Thanos?”

Gamora’s breath bursts from her and she nods slightly. “She’s right. Peter, we should go to Earth, rally behind the forces there.”

Peter makes a disappointed face. “Man…” he says softly. “Alright, alright. Earth it is.”

Bruce speaks up, “Hey, wait a minute, what about the Stateman? We need to help them get back to Earth.”

Thor replies, “Not to worry Banner, the rabbit has repaired the Stateman well enough that they were able to continue their journey to Earth. I am however in need to a weapon fit to fight the Mad Titan. I must travel to Nidavellir, home of the Dwarves. Only there can a weapon be crafted to defeat Thanos.”

I search the threads of fate again and nod. “As it should be.”

“Now wait just a second,” Peter exclaims, “We’re headed to Earth.” He looks at the bunch of us in the lab. “That was the plan, right? Don’t change the plan. I already agreed to the plan!” 

Rocket hops from his chair and lands almost out of view. “I’ll take Muscles to Nidavellir. That place is legend. I’m having a hard time believing it exists.”

“I am Groot,” comes a voice from the back, and Groot stands, having been far enough away not to show up on the feed before.

“Talking… tree?” Tony mumbles.

“Don’t be dumb, of course you’re coming with us.” Rocket responds.

“I am Groot.” Groot says with a roll of his eyes.

“Yeah, I know. We’ll have to meet up with them on Earth later.” Rocket says again.

Peter shakes his head. “Alright, see you guys in a few days.”

The display goes dark and Tony responds softly. “Hopefully, we have a few days to spare.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The next chapter explains some of the oddities you may have noticed surrounding Aleanna.
> 
> Side note: I find Peter Quill really hard to write, so hopefully this is a believable rendition of him.


	35. Taedium Coactus | Tony

#  _ Taedium Coactus | Tony _

After the conference call to space, Tony looks at the group in the lab. “Well, I’m ready for Chinese takeout.” He motions to Aleanna to walk through the lab door.

“Chinese?” Bruce speaks up. “You found a place to deliver Chinese way out here?”

Tony smirks at him. “I tip well.” He points to Shuri and then Peter, “Chinese takeout upstairs in the main dining area, ten minutes.”

“Yes, Mr. Stark,” Peter replies. He and Shuri finish shutting down the SpaCT system.

“Aleanna?” Tony calls out. Aleanna and Loki are part of the way down the hall and he hurries to catch up with them. “I would really like to know how you knew who those guys were. The Guardians of the Galaxy?” he narrows his eyes. “And now that I think about it, we talked about a raccoon and a tree before. Why am I just now remembering this?” Tony looks to Aleanna expectantly.

Aleanna rubs her forehead and slowly nods. “Apparently the  _ taedium coactus  _ has been broken,” she mumbles to herself. 

Loki gives her a sharp look. “What have you done?”

“I,” she huffs softly, “I ward myself. I place a type of compulsion or a-” she struggles for the right word as they both cross their arms and frown at her, “an aversion to thinking about or talking about things that are out of the ordinary in regards to my person, my traits, my actions.”

At the looks of distrust each of them are giving her she frowns. “Oh, come on. It’s not like it’s anything… bad. It’s more like ‘huh, she knows who those guys are, that’s great, moving on.’ or ‘where did she get that bow from, oh, hey, archery competition, neat.’ It’s more temporary A.D.D. you can’t be bothered for the details, to question  _ why _ . It makes traveling much less tedious. Can you imagine me trying to check every mind that I come across to make sure that nothing detrimental will be left in my stead?”

“So you’ve altered our minds?” Tony says stiffly. 

“NO!” Aleanna says quickly, loudly, then “No,” softer. “I would not say that. Okay, take for example when I was apprehended by the police. A man witnessed me returning Q to his own reality, he was alarmed enough to call the police immediately. If you were to question him today he would shrug it off and feel content to know that the police handled it. Without any reminder of the incident he’d forget about it completely in less than two weeks. The whole thing had no adverse effect on him, so his mind deems it unworthy of holding on to.”

“I don’t like it,” Tony says firmly. “Remove it.”

“It is broken. The magic lost its hold.” Aleanna explains softly. “Tony...”

He holds up a hand to stop her. “We deserve answers. Now. Come, everyone’s gathering for the meal, you can start answering there.” He steps around Loki and Aleanna, walking quickly from the hallway.

Aleanna grabs Loki’s arm to halt him, “I suppose you loathe me as well.”

“I care not what you do to the mortals’ memories. I myself was not affected whatsoever by your enchantment.” He responds rigidly. 

“Truth?” She asks and looks intently into his eyes.

“Yes.” He answers. She nods as she sees he truly had not been affected by her warding spell.

“Fascinating.” She murmurs softly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Taedium Coactus is just Latin courtesy of the Google translator= it translates to the words "aversion compulsion" in English.
> 
> Bruce's comment about Chinese takeout is quite humorous when I searched the supposed location of the Avengers Facility when writing a later chapter. Maybe we can just pretend there's a Chinese place in one of the tiny local towns... ;)


	36. 20 Questions | Aleanna

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Aleanna talks about different realities- and answers some personal questions.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A longer chapter- and you get a glimpse of another original character...

#  _ 20 Questions | Aleanna _

Loki and I reach Tony just as he’s directing four delivery people to the dining room to set all the takeout containers down.

They drop the bags of takeout on the long table and leave. Nat, Clint, Steve and Bucky all walk into the room together and grab plates to lay out at the table. Peter and Shuri arrive behind us, Bruce just behind them. 

There’s a swirling of gold and then a portal opens in front of Tony. Dr. Strange steps out. “Thank you for the invitation, Mr. Stark.”

Tony nods to Strange and motions to the table. “Welcome. Aleanna’s going to answer some of our burning questions.” Everyone begins to sink into seats and dump servings of the takeout onto their plates. Once everyone’s settled, Tony motions to me, “Alright Princess, time for show and tell.”

I struggle to know where to begin, “You asked earlier how I recognized the Guardians of the Galaxy… I’ve lived in realities where all of this,” I motion around, “is just a story. Comics. Movies. Books. The Guardians are one of those stories; the story of Peter Quill, ‘Star-Lord’ as he’s named himself, a half-human, half celestial who, along with his crew help to protect the universe.”

I meet looks of disbelief around the room and let out a heavy sigh. “Here.” I toss a cube into the middle of the table, override the security lockout and bring up an image. The image shows the actors who play some of the Avengers and Loki sprawled together in a relaxed boy-band pose. 

“These guys look familiar?” I point to each person in the image. “Sebastian Stan, Chris Evans, Tom Hiddleston, Robert Downey Jr.”

Loki gives the image a horrified look. “I would never lower myself to sitting like that.” He glares at Bucky accusingly. Tom Hiddleston is sitting on the floor between Sebastian Stan’s legs, leaning on his chair.

“The image is manipulated.” Natasha states. “Nice try though.” I bring up a few more.

“Chris Evans, Jeremy Renner, Chris Hemsworth, Robert Downey Jr.” I point the each of them in the first image of the group around a table, then point to the second image. “Chris Hemsworth and his daughter. An interview with RDJ,” I say as I point to the last image. The last is a set of images of RDJ talking about how his wife hates when he plays Iron Man because he starts to think he’s Tony Stark.

The group stares at the images I’ve placed on the screen. Nat speaks up, “Again, image manipulation.”

I bring up a clip from the Iron Man movie where a Stark Industries missile lands next to Tony and he looks over at it before it blows up.

“But perhaps you think I somehow got satellite imagery from that day? How about this?”

I bring up, then point to a video of Tom Hiddleston outside the ‘prison’ on Asgard, slight grin on his face. “The actor who plays Loki in the movies standing on the movie set version of the prison on Asgard.”

Loki leans in close to the image. “Preposterous. I look nothing like that mortal.” The others look at him with general disbelief at his comment.

I add a second video clip looping next to it, of Loki’s "death" in Thor: The Dark World. The blade stabbing through Kurse, the dark elf turning, impaling Loki upon the same blade, the black hole grenade, Thor running to where Loki lay fallen, looping over and over.

“Enough” Loki says in a low voice. “I believe you.” I close the two videos and look around at those who still have doubt on their faces. “How about video from on Sakaar and during World War II?”

I bring up videos of Thor fighting the Hulk and Steve and Bucky and the heartfelt ‘with you to the end of the line’ scene.

Loki speaks up “Thor never said ‘He’s a friend from work’ but other than that, it’s startling how similar to the actual event that is.” 

I look to Steve and Bucky who are both sitting tight-faced and rigid watching Bucky fall from the train. I close both of the videos and pull the cube back to me.

“So you’ve been galavanting irresponsibly throughout the multiverse, doing what? Whatever pleases you and generally making a mess of things?” Dr. Strange puts in. He crosses his arms and glares at me. 

I fling myself to my feet and return the glare with one of my own. “Not usually,” I say icily. “Sometimes there are complications, but I have always righted things before leaving whatever reality I have visited, Dr. Strange. Do you think I enjoy traveling from place to place, just forming friendships and meeting new companions, never staying long enough to build on those. Forced to move on again and again.”

“You’re lost.” Nat locks her eyes on me. “You can’t find your way home, can you?”

She watches my every move and reaction, reading me so easily that I let out a surprised huff of laughter, a single tear trailing down my cheek. I wipe it away in irritation, gaining control of myself again. “I’ll find my way home eventually.”

I slowly sink back into my seat and dump a little of the takeout onto my plate, sliding it around with my fork and waiting for the group to find something else to focus on. The mood seems extremely subdued and I sigh and force a cheery look upon my face. “Come now, let's not dwell on the sad. There’s got to be loads of questions you’ve got, about where I’ve visited, what I’ve seen. Ask your questions now. I do not know that I will be willing to answer them later.

Nat looks at me. “Where are you from?”

“Earth, I was born on Earth. Or one version of it.” This was not the line of questioning I expected.

“When?” This was from Tony. His eyes meet mine. “When were you born on Earth?”

I raise an eyebrow at him, “Early summer, 1981. And before you question, yes, I know I don’t look like I’m in my late 30s. I also don’t look to be over 2,500 years old, which is closer to my actual age.”

There is a long pause before anyone speaks. “How many people have you killed?” This is from Clint.

My eyes grow distant. “I made an oath that I would never kill any being with a soul. I have, thus far, been able to keep that oath.”

Dr. Strange gives me a challenging look, “What would you consider your greatest ability?”

“I would say that would by my adaptability,” I reply.

“That hardly sounds like a superpower.” Strange replies. 

I stand and move a little ways from the table. “Please join me, Dr. Strange.”

He pushes away from the table and stands before me, waiting.”

“Please, show me one of the basic lessons taught to those wishing to master the mystic arts.”

He raises his hands and begins spinning his right hand in a circle in front of him, creating a mystic circle of energy.

I shift to view the circle from the side, then stand next to him, raise my hands like his and begin circling my right hand. The golden energy forms in front of me, sparking wildly, but there, none the less.

Strange stops and the light fades from in front of him. “That’s, umm” He clears his throat, “that could be useful.”

I drop my hands and allow the energy to dissipate. “It can be a blessing, and at times, a curse. Certain magics don’t mesh well.” My eyes go distant for a moment as memories flood me.

“Are you afraid of anything?” Tony asks, breaking me from my thoughts.

‘I’m embarrassed to say I have a rather irrational fear of spiders,” I reply, paling slightly, “and I tend to fall on the ‘fight’ side of the fight or flight reflex.”

Peter fidgets and looks uncomfortable, so I quickly reassure him. “Relax, you’re more of a spooder, hardly the stuff of nightmares.”

Shuri busts out laughing, then nudges his shoulder with hers, “I agree, you are definitely a spooder.” Peter shifts his eyes to her, a flush rising on his cheeks.

“Where did you first choose to travel?” Bruce asks.

I ponder a moment. “My first intentional shift through the realities?” I shrugged at him. “Child of the 80s, growing up immersed in that culture. Can you guess what I first chose to see?”

Peter’s eyes get really big, “Star Wars!”

I beam. “Star Wars. I wandered into Mos Eisley and snuck aboard the Millennium Falcon. Han was furious and threatened to send me through the nearest airlock.” A faint smile forms on my lips and then fades.

“And in all your travels you are alone?” Nat asks.

“Oh, I’m not entirely alone,” I reply. I reach into my void space, dig through until I find what I was searching for, and pull it out. In my hands is a small dragon, made of silver. I shift my plate back and set it on the table in front of me. 

“Your traveling companion is a dragon figurine?” Tony asks from his seat to my right.

Loki leans forward to look at it closer, narrowing his eyes. “The detail is incredible. The artist is quite talented.”

I suppress a smile as I reach over to scratch under the figure’s chin. “Sindle, wake up. Come, say hello.”

The figure shivers then arches up like a cat and fans it’s wings, waking from the metal sleep that holds Sindle when we travel.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The next chapter has more Sindle. :)


	37. A Little Spicy | Tony

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My writing style might seem a little over descriptive. I have trouble with stories with lines like this; "She pulls the pizza from the oven just and the doorbell rings, and she rushes to the door and opens it." ... sooo is the pizza hanging from her hands while she carries on a conversation with the person at the door?? Maybe it's just my mind that works a little oddly. ;)

#  _ A Little Spicy | Tony _

And just like that, there’s a tiny dragon sitting on the table. Tony eyes it with distrust. “There’s a tiiiny dragon. Sitting on the table. A dragon.”

Sindle thrashes his tail and snorts, a little puff of white coming from his nose. “None of that now.” Aleanna says to the creature. She turns to Tony. “He’s a little grumpy when he first wakes up.” Tony shifts slowly back from the table, eyes large.

Sindle locks eyes with her, and after a moment she purses her lips together, trying to keep a smile at bay. “Yes, you are very fierce, and regal looking.” There is a moment of silence and then Aleanna speaks again. “Tony doesn’t mean any offense. He was only surprised. They don’t have dragons here.” The dragon preens, lifting it’s little chin. “Yes, you are his first glimpse at a dragon. Yes, you do look majestic.”

“The dragon… is communicating with you?” Shuri leaning across the table to get a closer look.

Aleanna nods, eyes still locked with Sindle. “He’s telepathically bonded to me.” Her eyes shift the Shuri for a moment, then back to Sindle. “Because it would be rude to just stare at you all day and ignore them.”

Shuri looks between the two. “And Sindle understands English?” 

“Sindle understands a great many languages, most dragons have a love for languages.” Aleanna explains. She turns her finger in a circle, “Turn around and I’ll introduce you to everyone.” She points from one person to the next, starting with Tony, on her right, and ending with Loki, who is seated on her left, introducing them to Sindle. Sindle nods his head to each person, chest puffed out proudly.

Sindle looks to Aleanna again and tips his head to her plate. “Yes, of course. You must be very hungry after all that napping.” The corners of her mouth turn up slightly at that. “It’s called Chinese takeout.” She points to one. “That one? That is chicken and broccoli.” A pause, then, “shrimp lo mein.” 

Sindle moves to Aleanna’s plate and begins savagely tearing into the chunks of chicken. Aleanna lifts her chopsticks and begins eating some of the lo mein, switching to the chicken and broccoli when Sindle starts working on the shrimp and noodles. Sindle finishes his mouthful and jerks his chin to Loki. Aleanna looks at Loki’s plate. “Hunan spicy beef.” Sindle pats his front feet on the table excitedly. “Sindle,” Aleanna says warningly, “It’s very hot.”

Loki pushes his plate closer to Sindle. “If the dragon wishes to eat the beef, he’s welcome to it.” 

Sindle gives a smug look to Aleanna and sidles up to Loki’s plate, tearing into a chunk of beef. Aleanna opens her mouth to say something then snaps it closed. A second and a third chunk of beef quickly follow the first, then Sindle suddenly stops and looks at Aleanna wide-eyed. “Yes,” She barely suppresses a chuckle, “Well, I did tell you it was very hot.” Sindle’s little feet dance in agitation and his eyes fill with concern. Aleanna shifts her hands over her cup and the liquid changes from clear to white. She tips her glass down so Sindle can drink. “Here, drink some milk.” She bursts out laughing, then replies to Sindle’s telepathic comment. “I  _ know _ you think that ‘cows are only good for eating,’ but milk will neutralize the burning in your mouth.” Sindle huffs in irritation and tips his snout in the milk and takes several swallows. He yanks his head back and shakes it back and forth as if trying to rid himself of the taste.

“Dreadfully sorry,” Loki says apologetically. Sindle gives him a disgusted look before turning his head, coughing and gagging. He shakes his head a few more times, then moves back to eating off Aleanna’s plate.

Aleanna gives Sindle a censuring look. “You can hardly blame him, you were practically salivating in his plate. It was polite to offer it to you.”

Peter looks at Sindle in confusion. “I thought dragons breathed fire. Shouldn’t hot food be, umm, bland for a dragon?”

“Sindle is a silver dragon.” Aleanna explains. “They are from colder climates and breath ice and cold instead of fire. Silvers are curious and loyal. They love to try new foods. And they are filled with wanderlust.” Aleanna smiles affectionately at the dragon before her. “When Sindle found out the potential extent of my travels nothing could convince him to stay behind. He’s been the best of companions.”

“Huh, cool.” Peter replies.

Aleanna makes a series of hand motions then touches a finger to the handle on one of the takeout boxes. The handle changes from the cheap metal it was, to pure silver. Aleanna pulls it from the empty container and breaks a piece off for Sindle. “Here,” She holds it out to the dragon. “Metallic species of dragons require a little of that metal in their diet.” Sindle eats a few pieces of the silver then pushes the next piece away with his front paw. The others in the group soon start talking amongst themselves, the table filled with friendly conversation.

Sindle walks to Loki and cocks his head at him. Loki reaches a hand down and Sindle walks to it, lifting his head. “He likes his chin rubbed, and the top of his head scratched as well.” Aleanna explains.” Loki complies with Sindle’s unspoken request and begins scratching his head.

“I can’t understand why you’d trust him with someone so important to you.” Tony says.

“I’m sorry,” Aleanna turns and looks to Tony in confusion. “Should I be concerned for the dragon or the Aesir?” Aleanna glances over at the pair. Sindle is practically preening at all the attention Loki is giving him.

Tony jerks his chin towards Loki. “He’s a murderer, a psychopath. I don’t understand how you can casually sit next to him, trust him at your back.”

Aleanna sighs and shakes her head, speaking in a low voice to Tony. “If Loki were not so stubborn and proud, he would admit to some unfortunate incidents beyond his control, which would help the rest of you to understand and trust him better.” Tony snorts in disbelief at this. “Plus, I suppose I’m used to seeing the cinnamon roll who plays Loki being interviewed about the role.” Aleanna brings up a video clip in the space between her and Tony. It is part of an interview, Tom Hiddleston saying ‘And lots of Loki love from me,’ followed by him winking to the camera. The clip continues with the interviewer telling Tom the clip is going straight onto Tumblr and him laughing and saying, ‘Is it?’ “Tom’s very charismatic.”

Tony shakes his head. “I still can’t wrap my head around this ‘Robert Downey Jr.’ insanity.” He lifts his glass and takes a swallow of wine. His eye catches movement behind Aleanna’s shoulder. “Is Sindle playing hide and seek?”

Aleanna turns to see Sindle tucking himself behind Loki’s hair and circling Loki’s shoulders. “Sindle,” she says warningly. “Absolutely not!” The conversation around the table dies down at Aleanna’s raised voice. Sindle gives Aleanna a smug look and circles around Loki’s neck, tucking himself into a near circle and turning to his slumbering metal form once again. Loki is now sporting a dragon-shaped torq around his neck. “Oh my stars, Sindle, you gluttonous beast!”

Loki reaches up and touches the torq around his neck, “Pray tell, why has your dragon fashioned himself into a necklace for me to wear?”

Aleanna frowns at the dragon in question. “Dragons digest with the aid of magic in the air. On worlds where magic is less prominent, Sindle relies on my innate magic aura to digest. Habitually, I keep my magic tampered, so as not to draw undue attention. You wear your magic on your skin, like a fine cologne for all to savor. Sindle is basking in that magic like a lizard might bask on a heated rock.”

Loki’s chin lifts a little and he breaths an irritated breath through his nose. “And how long might I have a dragon basking upon my neck?” He asks stiffly.

Aleanna winces, “Well, no more than 48 hours.” At Loki’s look of irritation she quickly amends her statement. “Surely less, if he’s exposed to so much magic all at once.”

Loki still doesn’t look satisfied, he stands and motions for Aleanna to follow. “You and I have much to discuss,” he eyes the group around the table. “Alone,” he clarifies in a low voice.

“Good night everyone,” Aleanna calls as she and Loki walk out the door.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Naughty dragon. =)


	38. Sleeping Arrangements | Aleanna

#  _ Sleeping Arrangements | Aleanna _

Loki and I arrive at my room and I motion for him to proceed me into the space. We walk in and as soon as the door closes, he turns to me, aggressively stepping into my person space. “Tell me, what do you know of me?” He narrows his eyes at me, “Which of my secrets can you claim to know?”

“I know you are a skilled sorcerer, perhaps one of the most powerful that Asgard has ever know.” I begin. “I know you are of Asgard but Asgard cannot claim to be your birthplace. I know you care for your adoptive brother. I know both your fathers are dead, one by your own hands. I know you are trained in the use of many weapons though you prefer your daggers. I know your adoptive mother loved you very much, and that you were in a prison on Asgard when she died. I know-”

“Stop!” Loki cuts in. He shakes his head. “Is nothing sacred?” he says in a low voice. “There are worlds where my entire life is some source of -- of  _ entertainment  _ for the masses.” He stumbles back a few steps, a wounded look on his face.

He drops his gaze to the floor and I slowly walk to his side and lay a hand on his shoulder. “I also know,” I softly say, “that there is good in you. That you are more than what the Avengers see you as. I know why you came to conquer Earth and I know how you used Thanos’ plan against him. I know that the Avengers are a stronger unit because of your actions.” I look at him until his eyes raise to meet mine. “Your  _ intentional  _ actions. Even with the mind manipulation and the torture- even with the threat of a painful death- you manipulated your circumstances to bring the best outcome for Earth, for this universe.  _ That  _ is what I know.” I drop my hand from his shoulder and walk to the ensuite bathroom. Loki shifts until he can see at least part of me from where he’s standing. I wash my face quickly and walk back out with a toothbrush in my mouth.

Loki looks at me questioningly, “Why do you do things as the mortals do, if you have magic to do it for you?”

I spit and rinse the toothbrush. “I hardly think about it anymore. It’s almost compulsive to act as a human when I am among humans.” I smirk half-heartedly. “Yay, adaptability.”

“I’m hardly human,” Loki reminds me and there’s a shimmering of his green magic, a hint of sandalwood and musk on a cool breeze, before he is standing in front of me in what must pass for pajamas on Asgard. 

I look from his lightweight black pants and dark green short sleeved shirt to my attire from earlier. I sigh and allow a trickle of my magic to drift over my clothes, changing them to black sleep shorts and a grey short sleeved sleep top. I faintly smell the vanilla, jasmine and musk it leaves in its wake.

Loki shakes his head, “I barely felt your magic rise in you. You truly do tamper your magic.” He grabs my forearm so I meet his eyes. “Show yourself to me. Do not hide your magic.”

I hesitate for a moment, then grab his hand in my own and place it on my upper chest, eyes closing in concentration. I slowly open the channel of magic up, the magic begins to build in me, I open my eyes and meet Loki’s gaze. From the surprise in his eyes, I know that my eyes are silver and glowing. Seconds later, I feel his magic rise to meet mine, twining and meshing with it. I jerk away from his hand and push my magic back until only the barest trickle remains active. I’ve never had my magic reach for someone else in such a manner. A chill runs over me as I wonder at the implications. Perhaps it means nothing. The challenge of traveling from reality to reality is that in some, magic behaves much differently than it does in others. The air is still heavy with the scent of sandalwood and vanilla.

“You are a thousand miles away from here.” Loki breaks into my thoughts. “I wonder... what you are thinking about?”

I look to him and a slight smile comes to my lips. “I was marveling at the challenges of traveling the multiverse.”

“Hmm, yes. The multiverse.” Loki frowns in thought. “Tell me about this ‘Tom Hiddleston’. I admit it’s unnerving to see how I will look hundreds of years from now.”

My confusion must be clear on my face because he clarifies, “The actor they have playing me, the image you showed of him sitting with that group- he’s aged more than I have. Which, of course makes sense since he is mortal. I shudder to think of what he looked like in the first few movies in which he played… me.”

I wave my hand in the air. The room has the computer cubes in each corner, so I am able to form a full-sized image of Loki from the first Thor movie. Loki circles the image, then shakes his head. “So young. It’s been centuries since I carried that youthful innocence with me.” He reaches up and gently touches the cheek of the image. “...Back before I knew my true heritage.” He abruptly turns away from movie Loki. His shoulders are rigid as he continues speaking. “Turn it off.” He says in a low voice.

Another wave of my hand and the image of Loki fades from the room. “Your heritage doesn’t define you.” I say quietly. “And, I do not fear it.”

Loki turns back to me, crossing the room in two quick steps. “You should. Frost giants are monsters. Asgard has many tales of the horrors they perpetrated before Odin took their power from them and forced them to keep to their own homeworld.” 

I meet his eyes stubbornly. “On Earth, history is written by the victors. I would think with meeting your lovely sister that you would question which of the truths he taught you would be uncovered as lies.” 

Loki grabs my wrist firmly in his and lets his frost giant nature slowly trickle through. Pale skin slipping to blue, eyes becoming red. I feel the cold at my wrist beginning to burn. I hold still for several seconds then jerk my wrist from his grasp. My wrist is red and blistered with frostbite. “See, I’m a monster who’s mere touch burns the flesh,” he hisses.

I raise my wrist so he can see that my skin is healing. “The damage is not lasting.” I reply and when he starts to drop his frost giant nature I bring my hands up to stop him. “Wait!” Then softer, “Wait.” I slowly bring my hands towards his face, allowing my adaptive nature to flare slightly, it learning from his nature, until I’m holding his face in my hands. “There. No pain. Yay, adaptability.” I joke softly.

Loki jerks back and then drops his gaze to the floor. I allow my hands drop slowly to my sides. His eyes move from mine to my hands and back before he takes one of my hands in his, he lays his blue hand on mine, then removes it to stare at the unmarred skin of my palm. I gently lay my other hand on top of his. We stand like that for a few moments, before his skin slowly bleeds back to his pale Aesir form. He gently pulls his hands from mine and walks to the window, staring through it, unseeing. He turns back to me. “It’s late, we should rest.”

I lower the lights, then walk to the bed. “Will the bargain allow you to sleep?” I ask softly as I climb into the bed and pull the comforter up to my waist.

Loki lowers himself to the mattress next to me. He is laying flat on his back with his eyes on the ceiling. “Perhaps physical contact?” He says in a voice tight with pain.

I reach my hand out until it touches his, then link our fingers together. “Better?” I ask.

There’s a relieved sigh from him. “Yes, that will do.”

I stare at the ceiling and let out a soft sigh. The last time I fell asleep I made a bargain while dreamscaping. I’m not sure I trust myself to drift off.

“I can practically hear you thinking next to me. What concerns you, Aleanna?” Loki asks softly. My eyes flick to Loki’s in surprise. “What?” he asks.

“That’s the first time you’ve called me by my proper name.” I hear the smile in my own voice. “Careful, I might become accustomed to hearing it from your lips.” I tease quietly. Loki is silent and I realize he’s waiting for me to explain my concern. “Would you believe that I’m afraid to fall asleep? That I will start dreamscaping again.” I ask softly. I turn my head to look at him. “Last time it didn’t go so well, for the both of us.”

“How long have you had this power, this dreamscaping?” Loki turns his head to return my gaze.

“I’ve only just dreamscaped the one time... Here with you. I haven’t slept for a very long time before I came to this version of the multiverse. It’s possible that I’ve been capable for centuries, and just never slept to allow the ability to make itself known. It’s also possible that as my abilities have been coming back this one became more dominant since there isn’t currently another forcing it to dormancy.”

Loki thinks this through for a moment. “Rest. Sleep if you can. As long as we touch, if anything happens I will sense it. I will go with you, and protect you from making any more bargains. I’m an extremely lucid dreamer. You have my word, I will wake you.”

Our eyes lock, a gentle smile lifts my lips. “I would be grateful.”

Loki shifts until he is laying flat on his back again. He adjusts Sindle’s sleeping metal form so the thinnest part of Sindle’s tail is around the back of his neck. I turn to the ceiling and work to relax my body enough to fall asleep. I slowly drift off.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The next chapter is where I switch completely from first person POV. Sorry about changing styles partway through, maybe eventually I'll fix the first part of the story.
> 
> My dear reader, I hope you picked up on Aleanna's adaptability and *compulsion* to adapt. This chapter was meant to provide some insights as to why she does the things she does...


	39. What Are You Listening To?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Guys, I am so pleased to have 7 kudos, 4 bookmarks and almost 250 hits on this story! It's been a ton of fun to write and I hope you've all enjoyed reading it!

#  _ What Are You Listening To? _

The day dawns with Loki curled to his side, breath softly shifting through the dark waves of hair that have fallen over his cheek. He stretches slowly and sleepily reaches his hand out across the bed. The mattress is warm, but Aleanna is no longer occupying the other half of it. His head lifts from the pillow quickly and he drops it down again in defeat. He knows he has only a minute, possibly two before the mind-numbing pain begins. He sits up and touches the silver dragon around his neck. “Come, Sindle, let's go find your mistress.” Loki shifts smoothly from the bed and listens. He can barely make out the sound of running water and voices coming from the bathroom. Who is Aleanna talking to, in the bathroom no less? Pain starts building in his stomach, he crosses the room quickly and flings the door open. Steam from the shower drifts out the door. Loki can see Aleanna’s silhouette shifting behind the glass shower door. He sighs as the pain subsides, her voice and silhouette enough to keep the bargain from harming him.

Loki leans against the wall, crosses his arms and looks around the small space. There is one of Aleanna’s cube-computer things on the vanity and music is playing from it. Aleanna is singing along to a song with a male artist. A smirk creeps onto Loki’s face as he listens to her sing about being a monster. The song ends and another begins, this time with a female vocalist. Loki listens in stunned silence as Aleanna sings along with her about living like legends. Her voice rises and falls with what seems to be little effort. He blinks as he realises the water has stopped. The glass door opens, with Loki standing between it and the wall. He looks down to see her feet step from the shower stall to the bathroom floor. There’s a rustling noise as she pulls a towel from a hook on the wall and wraps it around herself. A step forward and her feet disappear and the door swings shut. Aleanna takes another step towards the vanity and motions her hand above the cube and the music stops. Aleanna swipes her hand across the mirror, clearing the steam from it. Her eyes lock with Loki’s in the mirror. A slight widening of her eyes is the only indicator of her surprise. “Loki,” she breathes out softly.

“Sorry to intrude, but, I woke and you were absent.” Loki explains.

Aleanna shakes her head, “Of course. You were asleep, I thought I could get a quick shower in.” She turns to face him. “Sorry. Are you alright?”

“I am well.” Loki reaches up and touches a lock of Aleanna’s hair that has curled from the shower. Drops of water from her hair roll over his fingers and fall to the floor. “You still insist on doing things the mortal way.”

A faint, sheepish smile plays across Aleanna’s lips before she releases a burst of magic. Her form glows a silvery-white and then she’s standing before Loki in a peasant top and bootcut jeans. Her hair is dry and pulled back from her face. “It’s hard to go against my instincts. I didn’t think it through before I jumped in the shower. Sorry.”

Loki’s magic pulses green over his body and he stands before Aleanna in a black slacks and a black linen shirt. “Shall we see if any of your companions are up at this hour?” He offers his arm to Aleanna. She reaches down and links her fingers with his and pulls him towards the door. Loki quickly smooths the surprised look from his face as Aleanna quickly turns back. She reaches her other hand out and the cube shifts through the space into her outstretched hand. She turns back around as she tucks it into her pocket, then pulls him from the bathroom.

“Your music,” Loki begins. “You seem to enjoy it very much.”

“Mmm,” Aleanna says noncommittally. “Music makes me happy. Also sad, sometimes. Do you enjoy music?”

“I do, though, I do not know that I would call what you were listening to music,” Loki says defensively. “The music of Asgard is very different than what I heard you singing to in the shower.”

Aleanna gives him a smirk. “That sounds very much like a challenge.” She pulls the cube from her pants pocket and unlinks her fingers from his, placing the cube into his hand. She waves her hands quickly over the top, bringing up several lists of music and swiftly dropping several songs from each into a new set. She closes all the lists and touches her pointer finger to the top of the cube, “Aleanna allowing access on this device to Loki.”

There’s a pause, then the cube speaks in a gravelly male voice., “Confirmed, set access permission now.” Loki recognizes it as the voice he overheard in the bathroom.

Aleanna brings Loki’s other hand up and touches his finger to the cube. “State your name,” she says softly.

“Loki,” he says after a moment’s hesitation.

The computer voice speaks again. “Permission granted, set parameters for usage.”

“Full access to music files. Keep file marked ‘Loki’s Playlist’ in easy access.” Aleanna replies.

“Access complete,” the voice states.

“Thank you, Illidan.” Aleanna folds Loki’s hand closed over the small cube. “Over 1,000 songs from old Earth history, and from various elf and fae clans, from countless worlds. I believe some of those might fit your idea of  _ quality music _ . You also have access to the rest of my library,” she gives a grin, “in case you want to… expand your horizons.”

She turns around, starts to walk, then stops and turns back again. “Oh, if you want to listen without sharing the music with everyone around you, you can touch both sides of the cube and then touch your ears. The music with play in your ears, like headphones or earbuds the people of Earth use. That feature doesn’t work in overly-moist conditions like the shower. Request that the computer increase or decrease the volume or skip to the next song, or even play a specific song, and it will do as requested.”

Loki nods, then magics the cube away for the time being. Aleanna begins turning back around, and Loki catches her hand in his, linking their fingers once again. “Lead the way, Witch,” he says with a smirk.

She laughs softly as they leave their room. “You know, that title is particularly inaccurate.”

“Inaccurate?” Loki questions with a smile. “More or less inaccurate than your nickname for me?” he asks, a frown wiping away the smile. “I’m hardly a ‘Puny God.’”

A giggle bursts from her and she covers her smile. “Equally inaccurate,” she concedes. She locks eyes with him. “We are both so much more.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know I introduced a device much like an MP3 player in an earlier chapter, but in my mind that uses a cube to pull playback from (Bluetooth kind of concept), so I skipped to just having Aleanna lend a cube to Loki.


	40. The Narcissist and the Megalomaniac

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Over 250 views! Yay! Thanks guys!

#  _ The Narcissist and the Megalomaniac _

Aleanna stops them in front of a glass door and taps on it. There’s a pause and it opens, Tony standing there with his arms crossed. “Sorry, no lab access to anyone who paraded around Earth as the god of mischief.” He says hostilely.

Aleanna gives him a slight nudge with her free hand, and at his step back, she walks into the room, pulling Loki in behind her. “It’s a good thing he comes with a constant sentry. I’ll keep him from troubling you.” She drops Loki’s hand and walks farther into the lab.

“Too late.” Tony mumbles.

Anthony is standing in the middle of the room, swiftly running through screen after screen of information. Loki looks from the hologram to Tony and back. “Quite the narcissist, isn’t he?” he asks Aleanna.

Tony glares at Loki. “Better than being a megalomaniac,” he grumbles.

Aleanna’s eyes dart to Loki, warning him against replying. “Tony, we came to see if we could be of assistance. What project are you and Anthony working on now?” She ignored the snort from Loki at the AI’s name.

There’s a pause, while Tony glares at Loki, then he sighs and wipes his hand down his face, exhaustion starting to show. “I’m trying to finish my nano-suit. I want to have access to my armor without carrying over a hundred pounds of metal around with me. Nanites have the potential to solve that problem.”

Aleanna walks closer to Tony, searching his face. “Tony, it’s 7:15 in the morning. When have you last slept?”

Tony waves off her concern. “I’m good, I’ve got more caffeine than blood running in my veins right about now.”

“Tony, when did you last sleep?” She enunciates each word.

Tony thinks for a few seconds. “Yesterday morning, when you woke me up just before 5am. I think I got about 4 and a half hours of sleep before you came in, and four the night before... With the wine and fun hangover.”

“No wonder you’re so sluggish.” Tony opens his mouth to protest. “No, you are. You can barely stand up.” Aleanna reaches into her pocket dimension and digs around. “I think I still have a few…” she mumbles and digs a little more. “Ah hah!” She pulls out a chocolate wrapped in a gold wrapper. “This should help.”

Tony eyes it suspiciously. “What does it do?”

“It will allow you to quickly replace the rest you’ve missed.” She holds it out to him.

Tony looks at it a moment then shrugs. “I can’t imagine it will help much more than the coffee and energy drinks,” he says as he grabs it, unwraps it and pops it into his mouth. “Good chocolate though. It’s almost-” He gives Aleanna a confused look. “What’s happening?” His eyes roll back in his head and Aleanna catches him as he drops, fast asleep. She lifts him over her shoulder in a fireman’s carry.

Anthony appears in front of her. “Did you just drug Tony?” he frowns at her.

“Relax. He’ll sleep for about an hour, and feel like he’s slept about eight or ten.” She turns to the back of the lab, to the recliner Tony has stashed there. She carefully tips Tony into the chair and reclines it so that he’s lounging. Anthony is drifting behind her, looking concerned. She looks up at him. “Continue working on the nanite project. I think you two almost have it. When he wakes up he’ll be better able to help you finish.” Her lips lift into an almost-smile. “And he’ll be better able to face the coming danger.”

Anthony looks down at Tony. “He’s going to be pissed when he wakes up.”

“He’s going to be disoriented when he wakes up” Aleanna corrects. “Actually, if you get back to researching, and don’t say anything to him, when he wakes up he’ll probably just think he dropped off for a few minutes and get back to researching as soon as his feet hit the floor.” Aleanna motions to Tony. “He wouldn’t have taken it if he’d have known it would put him out for any period of time, you know how stubborn he is. You also know how manic he gets when he’s running on that little sleep.”

Anthony sighs. “Very well, I won’t say anything.” Aleanna smiles at Anthony. “However,” he clarifies, “if Tony  _ asks _ me how he ended up on the recliner I will be honest with him.”

“Fair enough” Aleanna says happily. She motions to Loki and they leave the lab.


	41. Training

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really debated on whether or not to keep song titles in here, and decided that I was going to. I have a loose idea for a later chapter that would tie in, but I'm not sure if I'll use it, thus this chapter taking a little longer for me to post. Between that and work deadlines, I was beginning to think I'd never get this chapter posted. 
> 
> Sorry, dear reader, for the delay! If it is any consolation, it's a longer chapter with some important details in it. =)

#  _ Training _

Loki and Aleanna push through the doors of the training facility. It’s empty, but there’s a tang of sweat in the air that suggests that someone just vacated the room earlier that morning. Aleanna turns to Loki. “Will you be joining me in sparring today?” 

Loki shakes his head. “I wish to train on my own for a while, perhaps later.” He moves some distance away and watches Aleanna. 

“Illidan, cue up warmup mix,” Aleanna says as she touches the sides of the cube, then her ears. She tucks the cube into the pocket of her pants. With a flare of her magic she is now wearing black fighting leathers, her fighting knives in sheaths at her low back. She turns to look at Loki “You may want to switch to noise-cancelling if you are listening to the music. I tend to get wrapped up in what I’m listening to.” She looks a little sheepish, “I’ll probably start singing along eventually.” She closes her eyes and speaks again, “Illidan, noise-cancelling set to 100%. Start playback now.”

Loki walks to the wall and leans against it, watching Aleanna move through a series of stretches and then a slow moving martial art of some kind. He pulls the cube Aleanna gave him out and sets it on a the bench of a workout machine next to him. “Illidan,” Loki begins, “start the playlist that your mistress suggested for me.” The first song starts playing, an old norse lullaby that Loki is familiar with. He listens through several songs before he pulls out his daggers and drills with them.

“Switch to ‘Fight’ music mix,” Aleanna says. She pauses then pulls out a sword from her dimensional pocket. It is beautifully crafted and Loki makes a note to inspect it closer when the chance presents itself. Aleanna lifts the sword in front of her face in a salute, before swiping it down and flowing through a series of strikes and jabs at an imaginary enemy.

Loki watches her movements for a while, sometimes coming so fast you can hardly see the blade flick through the air, other times, slower, but with a strength that can’t be denied. Loki touches the sides of the cube and then his ears, “Illidan, can you play what Aleanna is listening to for me?”

There’s a moment’s pause, then, “I can link the two devices, syncing the playback from hers.”

“Do so,” Loki responds. There’s a second of delay before the music begins. Loki watches Aleanna. She twists, ducks and strikes in time with the music. “Interesting.” He wonders if she would be thrown off by a sudden change in the tempo. “Illidan, what is the song?”

“The Resistance, by Skillet.”

“Announce every song to me as it comes on.” Loki mumbles. He grudgingly appreciates the way the beat of the songs and the way Aleanna moves with the sword seem to blend into one work of art.

The song ends and a new one begins. “War of Change by Thousand Foot Krutch.” Illidan supplies. A third song and title, “New Divide by Linkin Park.”

As the song comes to an end, Aleanna flings the sword across the room and it spins through the air, lodging itself to the hilt into one of the archery targets. She pulls her fighting knives out and holds them up in a defensive position, waiting for the next song to come on.

“Immortals by Fall Out Boy,” the computer states. The song ends and another begins, “Meet Me On The Battlefield by Svrcina. She will sing with this one. She always does.”

The words are barely out before the woman in the song and Aleanna are singing. Aleanna’s voice rises strong and clear through the room, despite her swift movements. The song ends and another begins, “Centuries by Fall Out Boy.”

Aleanna doesn’t sing through the whole song, but instead she chimes at certain phrases, “Heavy metal broke my,” here she stomps her feet twice, then sings “heart!” and then, “I’m the opposite of amnesia.”

A grin burst across Loki’s face at her antics, but he quickly wipes it away as she turns and starts through a series of moments facing his direction. The song ends and another begins. “Believer by Imagine Dragons.” There’s a noise at the door and Loki quickly mumbles, “Illidan, end playback for me.”

Peter is standing at the door, fiddling with the wrists of his Spiderman suit. Aleanna stops her movements when she sees him. “Pause playback, drop sound-cancelling.” She takes a few steps forward. “Hello, Peter.”

“Hey, umm Mr. Stark said I should do some training when I woke up this morning. I’m pretty sure he’s still working in the lab. He sent me away at like 2am this morning. Ah,” Peter looks from Aleanna to Loki, his eyes widening a bit. “I can come back later, I don’t want to bother you.”

Aleanna waves her hand in a ‘come here’ motion to Peter. “You are no bother. Come in and train with us.” 

Peter gives Loki another worried glance before he walks over to Aleanna. “Yes, Ma’am. I hate to disappoint Mr. Stark.”

“Not possible,” Aleanna says with conviction. She raises her voice, “Illidan, continue playback of ‘Fight’ music mix, full room 30% volume.” Believer is once again playing.

Peter smiles. “Hey, Imagine Dragons rocks! Do you have Thunder?”

“Illidan, skip to track Thunder by Imagine Dragons.” Aleanna says. The song begins and she starts dancing around, Peter shyly joining in. “Loki, come, dance with us!”

Loki raises his eyebrow at their movements. “I do not dance.”

Aleanna chuckles. “Tom Hiddleston dances quite well. Don’t tell me you’re going to let your mortal counterpart one-up you.”

“I said that I  _ do not _ dance,” Loki crosses his arms, “Not that I  _ can not _ dance.”

“Whatever. If you’re too scared of making a fool of yourself trying to dance in front of the kid, just say so.” Aleanna snarks back, moving to dance closer to Loki.

“Are you trying to manipulate the god of lies?” he asks incredulously.

Aleanna’s eyes widen, a smile lurking in them. “I wouldn’t dare.” She gives in to the smile and it spreads across her lips. She raises her eyebrow, challenge clear on her face.

Loki rolls his eyes then watches Aleanna and begins mimicking her movements, soon they are dancing together. The song ends and Loki stops dancing. “Satisfied?”

Aleanna leans close to him, breath coming faster. “Not nearly.” She turns to face Peter. “Ok, kid, lets run through some drills. Weapons?”

“Umm, mostly just my webbing and my fists I guess.” Peter replies.

Aleanna thinks for a moment. “Let’s spar.”

“What?” Peter’s voice raises an octave, then he clears his throat. “Yeah, okay, sounds great.” He pulls his face mask over his head and presses his chest so the suit fits itself tightly around him.

Aleanna pulls a bo staff from the wall and twirls it around, walking towards Peter. He shoots webbing at the staff and pulls hard. Aleanna tightens her grip and is flung through the air with the bo staff, slingshotting around as he continues to swing his arm. “Wow, people usually just let go,” Peter comments.

“Call me stubborn,” Aleanna releases one hand from the staff and slips her fighting knife from its sheath. She slashes the webbing, releasing the bo from it and sending her flying through the air. She tucks the blade back into its sheath and lands in a crouch. She comes at him again, flipping to the side when he shoots another bolt of webbing her way. She darts behind him and tries to sweep his feet with the staff, but he dodges. Aleanna begins analyzing his fighting style out loud. “You are quick on your feet.” He webs the bo staff and this time she lets go. The staff sails across the room. She throws a punch at him, he catches her fist in his hand. “Strong.” She does a series of back handstands away from him and a shot of webbing meets her hands as she lands. “And creative.” She brings her hands down and pulls, tearing the webbing and releasing her hands. “Good.” She stops fighting and nods her head in approval of his fighting skills.

Peter pulls his mask off to show the grin on his face. “Thanks!” He turns to walk towards the mini fridge for a water.

She shifts the webbing into solid metal balls with alchemy and flings them both towards Peter’s back. He tenses and then dodges and twists sideways, flipping between the two balls. He lands and looks back at Aleanna with a wounded look on his face. “But, it is your spider-sense that I believe will ensure your survival in the end.”

Peter swallows and nods, getting slowly to his feet. “O-okay.” He reaches the fridge and pulls a water out. 

Aleanna walks to the weapons rack and pulls a set of practice daggers from it. She walks over to Loki. “Will you run through some basic knife defense with the boy?” She asks in a low voice. Loki rolls his eyes, but Aleanna continues stubbornly. “He lives in Queens. The kid could use a little knowledge about how he might defend himself without outing himself as ‘Spider-Man’ in the process.”

Loki frowns down at the daggers, before sighing and grabbing both from Aleanna. “Ok, Little Spider, lets teach you how to bite.” He flips one practice dagger so the blade is in his hand and the handle is extended out to Peter.

Peter swallows the water in his mouth and hurries to set the bottle down, grabbing the dagger from Loki. “Thank you Mr. Loki, Sir.”

Loki smirks at being called Mr. Loki but says nothing. He runs through some blade drills in slow motion, showing Peter how to shift his hands and feet so that the weapon becomes an extension of himself. Peter runs through the movements several times. “Good!” Loki says approvingly.

Aleanna walks over to one of the weight benches and sits down. She pulls out her drawing notebook and a pencil and begins a new sketch, one of Loki guiding and training Peter.

They move on to Peter attacking Loki with the knife and Loki showing him several ways to disarm him. When Peter shows he understands, they switch roles and Loki is stabbing at Peter with the practice knife, and Peter works to disarm him. “Again,” Loki says. Loki backs up and attacks Peter again, the dagger flashing through the air and Peter shifting away and catching the arm holding the dagger before twisting Loki’s hand to make him release the dagger again. “Very well done, Little Spider,” Loki praises Peter.

Loki hands Peter the second practice dagger and magics a pair of his own daggers into being. Loki is running through another, more complex dagger pattern. Peter watches and follows along as best he can. The door opens and Tony walks up to Aleanna. “I’m pretty sure that’s horrifying, but my brain refuses to process what I’m seeing. I’m sure I’ll be freaking out in just a moment.” He looks down at the pages Aleanna has filled with sketches of Loki and Peter, blinks several times then looks at her. “And you’ve preserved it, in art form.” He raises his eyebrow at her.

“You need not fear for Peter’s safety.” Aleanna replies, not looking up from her current sketch.

Tony shrugs, “I’d be happy if you prove me wrong, Princess. The guy just doesn’t have a very good track record,” he pauses as he listens to the music. “Hey, this is a pretty good cover of that Bad Wolves song.” He comments as the song comes to a close.

Aleanna closes her eyes, a pained expression on her face. “This version of the Multiverse doesn’t have Cranberries?” She asks incredulously, opening her eyes to give Tony a challenging look. 

“What fruit has to do with anything in this conversation I don’t know.” Tony replies. “But, yes, we have cranberries.”

“ _ The _ Cranberries, the band.” Aleanna sets her pencil and sketchbook down and starts pacing. Loki and Peter have stopped practicing and have moved towards Tony and Aleanna. “If they didn’t make Zombie, who made Linger, who made Dreams?”

Tony looks confused. “Sorry, Princess, not sure what you mean.”

“Illidan,” Aleanna snaps. “Play Dreams by The Cranberries.” The song starts and Aleanna explains. “This song came out as a single in 1992. I haven’t been to any version of the multiverse that The Cranberries don’t exist.”  She crosses her arms and continues to pace as the song plays.

Tony nods as the song fades out. “It’s very well done, but I’ve never heard that one before, I guess no one sings it here.”

“Well, that settles it, I can’t stay here.” She raises her hands in the air dramatically. “A world without The Cranberries. That’s like a world without theme parks.”

“Without what?” Tony asks. Aleanna opens and closes her mouth several times. “Just kidding Princess. We’ve got theme parks. I hear The Wizarding World of Harry Potter is quite enjoyable.”

Peter’s eyes light up and he opens his mouth to say something but Tony cuts him off, “No, no time today. Once we save the world we’ll have time to play in Harry Potter Land.”

Peter frowns. “Yes, Mr. Stark.”

Loki walks over the the sketchbook and looks at the drawing of himself and Peter. Tony eyes Aleanna, “You drugged me.” Aleanna begins to fumble through an explanation. “No, I’m strangely okay with it. I woke up, figured out the last problem with my nanosuit and I’m good to go, so you’re forgiven.” He raises his pointer finger at her, giving a serious face. “No more ni-night chocolates!” Aleanna nods her agreement.

Loki closes the sketchbook, “I approve of your sketch of me,” the book disappears from his hands. “Thanks.”

A bubble of laughter escapes Aleanna’s mouth. “You will  _ not _ be keeping my sketchbook.” She smiles, shaking her head at Loki.

He raises an eyebrow at her. “I disagree. It is currently in my possession. I plan on it staying that way,” he says like that is the end of the conversation. 

Aleanna opens her mouth, then pauses, before saying, “We’ll talk about this later,” with a shake of her head. She inspects Tony. “Are you wearing the nanosuit now?”

Tony pauses for just a moment, presses the center of his chest and the nanites start flowing out from the power source, the suit melting out and down his arms and around his head until he’s completely covered. “You like?”

“Congratulations, Tony!” Aleanna says. “It looks wonderful.” She waves her hands and pulls more of her magic to the surface, her hands glow silvery-white. She then waves her hands in front of him, reading the energy output and power of the suit. “Hmm, it should serve you well.”

Tony allows the face mask to slip away from his face. “I get the strange feeling that I should feel violated by that probing.” He raises his eyebrow at Aleanna.

She shrugs. “Do you want to do a test run?” Aleanna pushes lightly off the ground and floats into the air a few feet. Her hands glow brighter.

Tony looks over at Peter. “Stand back kid, this is going to get dangerous.” He lets the helmet form back over his head and boosts up into the air.

Aleanna releases a blast of silver energy towards Tony. He meets it with a repulsor beam and shots back at her. She holds her wrists together, fingers spread wide, and attempts to catch the beam. The beam’s momentum pushes Aleanna to the wall of the training room, but she manages to hold it. There’s a ball of Tony’s energy in her hands, she grins at him and tosses it back at him. It hits his shoulder and tosses him towards the ground. Tony recovers and shoots at Aleanna again. She raises an arm, building a shield of energy along it. The blast bounces from the shield and hits the ceiling. Aleanna quickly shifts the shield so it absorbs the blast instead of reflecting it. She darts to the floor and lands. Raising her hands in surrender. “We should stop before we blast a hole in the facility. Directory Fury doesn’t need another reason to be irritated with me.”

Tony lets the suit pull back from his face. Aleanna looks around and notices Nat and Clint standing near the door. She lifts a hand in greeting then pushes off the ground. She shifts her hands in a rapid series of movements and then touches the ceiling, the blackened and damaged area returns to normal. She drops lightly back to the floor.

Nat walks to where she’s standing, Clint trailing behind. “So, you… fly?” She asks her.

“Sometimes. Sometimes not.” Aleanna says, then, at Nat’s confusion. “My abilities are limited by what the version of the multiverse I’m in allows. A world that is almost completely science and technology will not allow ‘magic’ abilities. If I were to walk into most versions of Faery I wouldn’t be able to access technologies that work in human worlds. This world is a rich combination of both magic and science.” Loki narrows his eyes in thought. Aleanna bites her lip and thinks. “Not all magic abilities function in this world though.” She pulls a wand out and waves it at one of the weight benches. “ _ Wingardium Leviosa. _ ” The weight bench doesn’t move. She drops the wand back into her pocket dimension and pulls out a lightsaber. She holds it out, and the blade extends. “There’s a bit of science behind the workings of a lightsaber,” she explains. The blade retracts and she tucks it away.

“So, when you travel, how do you know you won’t get stuck in a world and unable to travel back out?” Nat asks. 

“I first traveled using only science, and spent an extended period of time in a world where technology was all but nonexistent.” Aleanna explains. “I slowly adapted, and later realized that the same form of travel could happen by using magic. I left that world using my magic ability.”

The door opens, Steve, Bucky and Shuri walk in. “Hey, we’re here for some training.” Steve explains.

Clint’s eyes scan the room and land on the sword lodged in the archery target. “Hey, who’s been mangling my range?” he asks.

Aleanna walks quickly across the room and yanks the sword from the target and twirls it in her hands before she slides it into a sheath on her back. She shifts her fingers a few times then touches the target, mending the damaged surface. “Good as new,” she says as she looks to Clint.

Shuri walks closer to Peter and he greets her. She taps her hands together and vibranium gauntlets cover her hands. She and Peter start talking about vibranium technology. Nat, Steve, and Bucky start running through two on one drills. Tony and Clint are running through target practice with some projectile-style targets that pop up from behind the archery range. Shuri and Peter soon join them and all four have started a competition to see who can hit the most in a row.


	42. Sketches

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter and the chapter before were fun to write. Hope you enjoy reading them as well...

#  _ Sketches _

Loki drifts over to the weight bench Aleanna tried to levitate earlier and sits on it. Aleanna walks over and sits next to him. “So, when do I get my sketchbook back?” she asks.

Loki smirks at her. “Well, I certainly would not hold your breath.”

Aleanna sighs and pulls the paper label from the water she was drinking earlier and uses alchemy to change it into a basic sketchbook. “You may hold on to it for now,” she says with a frown. She pulls out a pencil and begins sketching the group, trying to capture everyone in one cohesive image.

Loki leans close to look at her work. “Do you not have something better to sketch?” he asks softly.

“Hmm, and what would that be?” She asks and turns to him.

“Myself, of course.” Loki answers smugly.

Aleanna gives a bright smile. “I’ve already drawn several,” she explains.

“Ah yes,” Loki magics the sketchbook out and flips through it. He frowns and flips back several more pages. “This is empty.” He turns to her for an explanation.

“It’s warded, actually.” Aleanna smiles sweetly to Loki. He eyes the sketchbook and Aleanna can feel his magic rising. He holds the open sketchbook in one hand and places the other hand on the top, the page glowing green under his hand. Aleanna breathes deeply, enjoying the scent and feel of his magic flowing around them. She closes her eyes and sighs in contentment. 

“Does it please you?” Loki’s voice cuts through the air and Aleanna’s eyes pop open, locking with his. She is about to respond when he continues, “Knowing that I can’t get around the wards on your sketchbook.”

Aleanna leans a little closer to Loki and speaks in a soft voice. “The pages respond to specific phrases. They will show you certain images I’ve drawn based on the phrase that is spoken.” She holds her hand out for the sketchbook. Loki hands it to her after a moment’s hesitation. She holds it between them, leans towards the page with her eyes on Loki and says, “I am Loki, of Asgard, and I am burdened with glorious purpose.”

He looks at her with surprise, then shifts his eyes to the pages of the sketchbook as drawings start to flow to the surface of the paper. She hands the sketchbook back over to him and he flips through page after page of drawings of himself. He begins shaking his head. “When could you have possibly had time to sketch all these?” 

“You were unconscious for several hours when I first brought you here. I sketched while I was playing nursemaid.” She tucks a lock of hair behind her ear as she leans in to look at each page that Loki is looking at. “I used poses of your movie double as a muse for some of them. You look very much alike, so I was able to use his form, his way of moving, as a building block for some sketches. There’s just this sense of something  _ other  _ in you that isn’t in the movie version of Loki.”

Loki slowly flips to the next page. This page shows Loki reading in the training room. “And what else is hidden on this page?” He asks softly.

Aleanna places a hand on the page. “There are 76 other drawings on that page. Six of those are from my time here.”

“Show them to me.” Loki looks at the image of himself and tries to see what other images are hidden on the page.

Aleanna touches both hands to the page. “Avengers, Assemble.” She says softly. Various images of the Avengers slowly raise then fade from the page. One of Bruce and Dr. Strange as they walk through the portal. Another of Tony eating granola in front of a cell, Aleanna standing across from him behind the glass. The next is Director Fury frowning. Another is Aleanna and Nat fighting Steve and Bucky. The next is Tony and Anthony facing one another in profile. 

“You have two images of Tony on the same page. How does it know what one to bring up?” The image on the surface is Loki reading again.

“Two different phrases.” Aleanna explains, then says. “Genius, Billionaire, Playboy, Philanthropist.” The image of Tony and Anthony facing one another comes to the top again. “I am Iron Man.” She says, and the other image of Tony standing outside her cell comes to the surface. Loki looks at the image, tracing a finger along her figure in the picture. He turns the page to check what she’s sketched of Stark on the next page. It’s an image of Tony rolling his eyes, unimpressed by whatever it is someone said to him.

“Is your curiosity satisfied yet? I would really like my sketchbook back.” 

“Satisfaction is not in my nature,” Loki responds impulsively. The page shimmers and there’s a new sketch. Loki glances down at the page and sees himself sleeping peacefully in Aleanna’s bed. He raises an eyebrow at her. “You sketch me as I sleep as well?”

Aleanna’s lips stretch to a coy smile. “I  _ saw  _ you sleep, I  _ sketched  _ you later.”

“How many phrases have you placed in your sketchbook to hide pictures of me?” he asks.

“I shan't tell you, where’s the challenge in that?” she asks and stands up. “Keep the sketchbook for a while, if it amuses you.” She walks a short distance away and begins running through a kata.

Loki looks back down at the page, then says, “You lied to me, I’m impressed.” The page remains the same. He rubs his chin in thought. “If it were easy, everyone would do it.” The page still shows Loki sleeping. “When do we start?” The image changes to one of Loki with a smug grin on his face. The grin is reflected on his own face and he looks to see if Aleanna knows he’s found another phrase. She raises an eyebrow at him and turns the other way, working through the other side of her kata.

Loki looks at the image again and tries to figure out some more phrases, “This is my bargain, you mewling quim.” He guesses. 

Aleanna rolls her eyes and shakes her head a little as she hears that one. “Loki,” she scolds as she turns to finish the kata, “do you really think I would use that phrase?” She raises an eyebrow in challenge.

Loki looks down at the sketchbook. “You were made to be ruled, in the end, you will always kneel.” The page of the sketchbook changes to a picture of Loki and Aleanna sparring.

Loki’s grin or triumph makes Aleanna chuckle. “Very good!” Loki sits with the notebook and flips through pages of sketches of himself. He finds the ones of himself helping to train Peter to defend against someone with a knife. A faint smile crosses his face.

Aleanna walks back over to the bench and sits next to Loki. Nat walks up behind them and looks at the drawings over their shoulders. “Do you have  hybristophilia?” She asks Aleanna. Steve and Bucky drift closer, each with a bottle of water in their hands.

Aleanna bursts out laughing and stands to face Natasha. Steve and Bucky both look between Nat and Aleanna in confusion. Aleanna explains, “Hybristophilia is an attraction to extremely violent criminals, or a person who has committed a gruesome crime.” Both Steve and Bucky look uncomfortable at the definition. Aleanna narrows her eyes at Natasha. “I would say I’m more sapiosexual than any other label you would throw at me.” She turns to Steve and Bucky. “That means I’m attracted to intelligence.” She smirks at Natasha, “I’m tired of trying to prove Loki’s one of the good guys.” Aleanna silences the music coming from the cube and whistles to Tony to get his attention. When everyone is looking at her, she continues, “Meeting in the common room in twenty minutes? I’ve got something that I’d like to be share with everyone.”

Tony shrugs and nods. “Okay, Princess.”

Aleanna takes a few steps towards the door, then turns to wait for Loki. He stands and magics the sketchbook away. They walk out of the training room. Loki grabs Aleanna’s arm, pulling her to a stop just outside the door. “You need not defend me. I am used to their distrust.”

“If you were completely honest about the events of the past few years, they would understand why you did what you did. They would understand  _ you _ better.” She argues.

“Perhaps I don’t want them to understand me.” He murmurs softly.

Aleanna throws her hands up in the air, clearly frustrated, and turns away from Loki, he hurries to keep up with her.


	43. Movie Night

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I didn't get a chance to thoroughly edit this, hopefully I didn't miss a big typo.

#  _ Movie Night _

Aleanna and Loki are the first to arrive at the common room. Aleanna looks through the cupboards until she finds a few bags of popcorn and starts running them through the microwave. The Avengers and Shuri walk into the living space one by one. Nat is freshly showered and so are Clint, Steve and Bucky.

There’s a burst of golden magic as Dr. Strange makes his way into the room as well. “I heard we were having a meeting.”

Aleanna hands him a bucket of popcorn. “Movie night,” she says by way of explanation.

Natasha frowns. “Seems like kind of a waste of time.”

“We trained today, and I think it’s worth taking the time to see this.” Aleanna counters. “Besides,” she says with a smile. “I think you’ll find it entertaining.”

Tony walks over to the couch and sits in the middle with his arms across the back of the couch. “OK, let's roll film.” Shuri and Peter sit on one side of him and Nat and Clint sit on the other. Loki sits in the oversized chair to the left of the tv and Steve, Bucky, Bruce and Dr. Strange sit on the other couch to the right. 

Aleanna hands out the rest of the buckets of popcorn and walks to the 80 inch tv. She sets a cube down next to the tv and works on getting it to play to the tv. The cube displays to the tv and a few seconds later  _ The Avengers _ title screen pops up. 

There’s chaos as everyone starts speaking at once.

“What?”

“Yeah, that’s crazy-”

“Wrong on so many levels.”

“You gotta be kidding me!”

Aleanna holds up her hands. “Come on now, it’s really a great movie.”

“Yeah, great,” Tony replies. “Only we lived that. It’s more like a- a painful documentary-style reenactment of the events leading up to the Battle of New York.”

“How about we consider it a research project? I would love to know how close to the actual events the movie version is.” Aleanna tries to compromise. “Give it fifteen minutes. If you don’t want to watch after that, we’ll find some comedy or something on Netflix.”

The Avengers begrudgingly agree to wait out the first fifteen minutes of the movie. Aleanna dims the lights and hits play. She looks around at the seating arrangement and shrugs and slides into the oversized chair next to Loki.

When Loki makes his first appearance on screen Tony chimes in. “Not looking too good, Reindeer Games. Is traveling by Tesseract that rough.”

“My condition was not caused by the Tesseract.” Loki says stiffly. The group falls silent once again.

The movie plays through for about ten minutes before the Avenger’s title comes on and Tony speaks. “Hey, listen to that, we’ve got a theme song.”

The movies continues and Black Widow is just picked her shoes off the ground after being “interrogated” and walking away when Aleanna pauses the video.

“Hey!” and “Come on!” The protests fill the room.

“That was fifteen minutes.” Aleanna tries to hide the grin in her voice, “Shall we continue?”

There’s agreement all around and the movie is unpaused. The group gets quiet when Coulson comes on screen and Bruce mumbles something about respecting the dead. 

“Coulson’s alive.” Aleanna says suddenly into the quiet room. “S.H.I.E.L.D. brought him back. His team picked me up in California.”

“Fury.” Tony says tightly. 

“Actually, I believe that Agent Coulson may have preferred to tell all of you in person.” Aleanna says softly. “I just, well, it's long past time for you know that he’s alive, and well.”

The movie switches to Loki and The Other conversing, and Loki declaring, “I was a king. The rightful King.”

“Delusions of grandeur?” Natasha asks.

Aleanna glances over at her, then back to the screen. “He was the rightful king. The All-Father fell into his Odinsleep and Thor was banished to Midgard to learn a lesson in humility. And Hela, well, no one knew about the oldest of Odin’s children at that point. Not that her rule would have been peaceful.”

Loki cringes at the end of the scene when The Other promises Loki that Thanos will find him and torture him if he fails. Aleanna rests her hand on Loki’s thigh, leaning over to him. “The Other is dead. He was killed by a Kree named Ronan the Accuser. Ronan was killed by the Guardians of the Galaxy.” She says softly.

The movie continues on to the fight between Loki and Captain America, with Iron Man flying in to help. Tony listens to the quips from his on-screen counterpart and shakes his head. “They’re even stealing my lines.” He grumbles.

The plane scene comes on and Clint speaks up, “Is that how it played out? Thor came and stole Loki right out of your hands?”

Steve speaks up, “More or less.” He flinches as he watches Thor slam Loki into the ground in the next clip, “Ouch.”

The room falls silent again and movie Loki and Thor argue about Earth, Loki’s rule, and the Tesseract. Iron Man flies in and he and Thor fight. Captain America comes to defuse the situation and Aleanna can’t keep quiet any long. “I have to know, is that really how the events happened? All of you fighting like children in the forest?”

Tony sighs loud enough for the whole room to hear. “I am sorry to say that that is very close to how it happened.”

Loki leans close to Aleanna, breath tickling her ear, “And I am delighted to say, that is precisely how it happened.” Aleanna looks over at him in time to see him turn back to the movie with a grin. He listens to the conversation between Thor and the Avengers and smiles when Thor defends him, then says “he’s adopted” to excuse Loki’s poor behavior.

When Tony in the movie says “I’m a huge fan of the way you lose control and turn into an enormous green rage monster,” Bruce looks over at Tony with an accusing look on his face.

“Hey,” Tony says defensively. “I didn’t actually say that. Though,” he grins, “it is really quite funny.”

The group grows quiet and the room is completely silent as they watch Loki and Natasha’s confrontation and then the argument in the lab caused by Loki’s staff.

As the movie moves to Banner going all Hulk on everyone Bruce shakes his head. “I am really glad that I can’t remember much of what happens when the big guy comes out to play,” he says softly.

The group watches Nat and Clint fight and Clint looks over at Nat. “The bite, it was from you?”

Natasha shrugs, “What? You had a knife on me, I was desperate.” She shoots a smile at Clint.

At the scene where Coulson and Fury are talking, the group sobers again. Dr. Strange speaks up, “What was Agent Coulson saying, “This was never going to work unless they had something to- what?”

Nat looks between the screen and Dr. Strange. “Something to rally behind.” She says. “We teamed up to avenge Coulson’s death.” She looks at Loki, and he shifts uncomfortably at her observation.

As Agent Hill reveals that the cards were in Coulson’s locker Tony grumbles something about Fury being a manipulative asshat.

The movie winds to an end. After a moment of silence Aleanna speaks up. “Somewhere along the line your reality shifted from what the movies in that reality portray. S.H.I.E.L.D. was overrun by Hydra in the movies, and Natasha released all of S.H.I.E.L.D.’s database onto the web- sharing all of Hydra’s secrets in the process. As a result of the Civil War between the Avengers, Captain America and half the Avengers went on the run. Slight differences, but differences nonetheless.”

“Bring on the Marvel movie marathon.” This is from Tony. He looks around, “What?”

Natasha shakes her head, “We don’t really have time to watch that many movies.”

Dr. Strange stands up, “Well, actually, we could. I can create a time loop, we’d be able to sit here outside of time for a few hours.” He opens the Eye of Agamotto, twisting his hands and pulling. 

Reality seems to shudder, all sound in the room echoing unnaturally. “Is this what usually happens?” Nat asks, her words repeating over and over.

There’s a sudden movement as Loki pulls Aleanna into his arms, stands and shouts, “Stop!” Dr. Strange releases the magic and the eye closes. Aleanna shakes her head and wipes the blood from her nose. 

“That’s unfortunate,” Aleanna mumbles weakly. She pushes gently away from Loki’s chest until he sets her down on her feet. “I’m very sorry. I believe,” she searches for the right words. “I believe that I’m serving as a sort of lodestone.” She looks to Dr. Strange. “I’m keeping time from shifting around me. And that means-”

“That means no time loops,” Dr. Strange finishes for Aleanna. “It means, when it comes time to fight Thanos, that we have one shot at this.”

“I feel there’s something else I should show you. A possible reality. It appears that this one- your reality- has deviated drastically from that one, but,” she hesitates, “it is a warning as to what will happen if you fail.” Aleanna closes her eyes and opens them again. Her magic swirls around the room and suddenly it appears as though they are all standing on the Statesman, dead bodies laying around them. Heimdall sends The Hulk away and Thanos thrusts Heimdall’s own sword through his chest. Next it shows Thanos choking the life out of Loki as Thor is helpless and forced to look on. The scene shifts to the last few moments of the battle against Thanos in Wakanda. We see Thanos snap his fingers, then one by one people turn to dust. They see Bucky, then Black Panther, then Groot, then Scarlet Witch and Falcon. The scene changes to Titan and Mantis, Drax, and Star Lord fade away. Then Dr. Strange. Finally, Tony holding Peter as he fades away. Aleanna releases the magic and the images fade from around them. Everyone is silent. Aleanna clears her throat. “That is only one possible reality. If I had to guess I would say they somehow go back in time to get another set of stones, to perhaps undo the snap.” She looks to Tony. “There’s no undoing the snap in this reality. We’ll have one shot at this.”

Clint stands up and walks over to Loki, “Then I guess we’d better get over our grudges and focus on taking out Thanos.” He holds his hand out for Loki to shake.

Loki hesitates for a second, then shakes Clint’s hand. “Thanos manipulated us all into being his tools. He will stop at nothing- nothing, to acquire the rest of the stones.”

Shuri looks at the group. “You all are looking very glum,” she says. “How many times do you get to say that you have a chance at a ‘do-over’ anyway? Life isn’t some video game that you can just restart the level on. We come at this smart, and do it right the first time.” She reaches over and turns the lights up. “Let’s eat, I’m hungry.”


	44. Calm Before the Storm

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Over 300 views and 8 kudos. Thank you so much readers!!
> 
> Short but sweet chapter. I hope you enjoy!

#  _ Calm Before the Storm _

Loki and Aleanna wander back to their room after the group meal. Aleanna magics herself into her pajamas as soon as the door is closed. Loki turns to look at her and smirks. 

“What?” she asks.

“You’re starting to adapt, doing things as I would, not as the midgardians would,” he says with a smug grin.

She raises an eyebrow at him, “Perhaps I’m just trying to avoid causing you unnecessary pain.” Her lips curl up in a slight smile.

Loki walks over to the bed and leans back against the pillows, Aleanna’s sketchbook appearing in his hands. Loki starts mumbling phrases from the movie to the sketchbook. He suddenly makes a fist and cheers under his breath.

Aleanna raises a brow in question.

“I found your collection of Widow sketches under ‘I don’t see how that’s a party’,” he says with a wide grin.

Aleanna climbs into the bed, pulling the comforter over herself. “It pleases me to see you smile.” She lays facing the ceiling and quietly listens to him try more phrases on the sketchbook. She feels a slight brush of magic and knows Loki’s hidden the sketchbook away again.

Loki links his hand with Aleanna’s and stares at the ceiling. Neither say anything for a long moment, then Loki breaks the silence. “I am having trouble falling asleep,” he admits. Aleanna turns to meet his eyes and he explains, “Last time I fell asleep I woke to you gone, and a rising pain building in my abdomen.”

Aleanna studies him for a moment then shifts his arm out slightly and tucks herself along his side, her head laying on his upper chest. “Better?” she asks. 

Aleanna feels Loki swallow, then a brush of his magic and she’s laying on his bare chest. “Better,” his reply rumbles under her cheek. “Now I can feel your skin as well,” he says by way of explanation. “Plus, you are quite warm.” Loki says in a teasing voice.

Aleanna closes her eyes and tries to sleep, she wiggles slightly and shifts closer to Loki, wrapping an arm around his waist.

There’s a quick intake of breath then, “Are you quite finished?” Loki asks in a pained voice.

“Sorry. I’m not accustomed to sleeping anymore. I can’t seem to slow my thoughts enough to drift off.”

Loki reaches up and runs his hand over her hair. “Relax, breathe deeply.” She settles against him and breathes more slowly. “If you cannot sleep I could try a sleeping spell on you, if you wish.”

“I doubt it would work,” Aleanna mumbles against his chest. “I’m fairly magic-resistant. To the offensive stuff.”

Loki can feel Aleanna drifting further into sleep. “How many phrases did you set in your sketchbook for pictures of me?” he asks softly.

Loki is just starting to think Aleanna has fallen asleep when she mumbles, “Eight, so far.”

Loki shifts slightly, twisting Sindle into a more comfortable position. “Do you have any drawings of yourself, in your sketchbook?” He asks softly.

“Mmm hmm,” she replies.

Loki continues to run his hand down Aleanna’s hair, “What’s the phrase for those?” he asks softly.

There’s complete stillness in the room, and Aleanna’s head pops up, pale blonde hair falling in waves around her face as she looks at Loki in surprise. “Are you trying to interrogate me in my half-asleep state?” her face contorts from shock to a grin as she giggles. “You are such a cheat!” She rolls to her back next to him, his arm tucked under her head.

He rolls to face her. “I am not a cheat,” he says defensively. “I am merely using every option available to me.”

“Is that what that’s called?” Aleanna pokes him lightly in the chest and he rolls to his back again. She lays back on his chest, her head just under his chin.

“Indeed,” he replies.

“Mmm. Tell me a story,” she says softly. “About anything, or nothing at all. It’s how I used to fall asleep before I learned to meditate instead.” 

Loki adjusts Aleanna’s arm so it’s back over the skin of his stomach and he begins murmuring an ancient Asgardian tale.

Loki is on his fourth tale when he feels Aleanna relax against him, completely asleep. He sighs and sends a tendril of his magic into the hallway to ward the door. Both he and Aleanna will sleep hard tonight, and he’d like some advanced warning of anyone trying to enter the room.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My text editing app really, really doesn't like the phrase at the end "to ward" - I wrote that intentionally- it is not "toward(s)" it's warding the door, as in a protective magic. Hopefully that was clear in the story, if not, here you go. :)


	45. Running Errands

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had so much fun writing this chapter. Hopefully you enjoy it too. :)

#  _ Running Errands _

Tony walks up to Aleanna’s door the next morning and reaches out to knock, when an image of Loki appears next to him. “She is asleep, and only just.” Loki says frostily. He moves between Tony and the door.

Tony frowns and crosses his arms. “Sorry, Rock of Ages, I’ve gotta talk to Aleanna before I leave this morning.” He moves to push Loki out of the way. His hand shifts through the image and it fades away.

Loki frowns from the bed and then smirks. He releases a wave of his magic just seconds before Tony opens the door and walks into the room. 

“Mmm,” Aleanna shifts against his chest. “Your magic tickles,” she mumbles sleepily.

From the door there’s a choking noise. Aleanna peels an eye open to see Tony standing in the door, eyes wide. She takes inventory of the room and realises that she and Loki appear to be naked, the sheet draped in key places along their bodies. She holds the sheet up to her chest as she sits up, leaning her hand on Loki’s chest. “Loki!” she tries to make a stern face, “Stop teasing Tony!”

Loki chuckles in delight and his illusion vanishes, Aleanna now wearing her pajamas and he is wearing his sleep pants. He grins at Tony, “You should have seen your face.”

Aleanna can no longer keep a straight face and she burst out in laughter.

“Happy to amuse,” Tony says drily. He rubs both hands down his face as if to rid himself of the image of Aleanna and Loki sprawled together. “Look, Princess. I came to let you know that Dr. Strange has invited us to the New York sanctum to research the infinity stones. We used the mind stone to shut down the tesseract during the Battle of New York, we’re hoping to find something more, maybe use one stone to destroy another. Bruce, Shuri, and I are leaving in about five minutes. Dr. Strange is going to open a portal, save us some travel time.” He looks between the two, “care to join us?”

There’s a surge of Loki’s magic and he shifts out of the bed, fully clothed. “You’ll have to excuse me if I decline. I’ll not willingly place my person into one of Strange’s portals.”

The slight curl of Aleanna’s lips is the only sign of her amusement. “We’ll travel via different means and meet you later today,” she promises to Tony.

“Alright, well, would you mind bringing Peter with you? I kept him up late working through another research project. He’s crashed out in the recliner in my lab.” Tony requests.

Aleanna nods once. “Of course.”

“The address is-”

“177a Bleeker Street?” Aleanna cuts in.

“That’s not creepy.” Tony mumbles. “Yes, 177a Bleeker.”

Tony exits and Loki raises an eyebrow at Aleanna. “Dare I ask if you are aware of the unfortunate events that led up to my aversion to Dr. Strange’s portals?”

Aleanna climbs out of the bed, her magic flaring around her, pajamas replaced by tight jeans, boots and a form-fitting sweater. She walks up to Loki and meets his eyes, leaning close, “I have been falling” she says softly, “for 30 minutes.” She looks to him with a smirk before walking to the door.

Loki shakes his head and mumbles “humiliating,” before following out the door.

The two are almost done eating a breakfast of cold cereal and milk when Loki suddenly requests, “Tell me more of Tom Hiddleston.”

Aleanna raises a brow at him and he continues, “When last I asked, we got off topic.” Loki grows silent and Aleanna knows he’s thinking of their last conversation about his Jotun heritage.

“What would you like to know?” Aleanna asks. “He’s tall, british, charismatic in his interviews... I can’t exactly give you any information based on personal experience, I’ve never met him. He seems nice though.”

“Nice,” Loki repeats softly.

Aleanna continues when Loki says nothing more, “He’s actually a bit of a humanitarian, volunteering with Unicef and-”

“Unicef?” Loki questions.

“Umm, they help children, and mothers, in developing countries,” she explains.

“Sounds charming,” Loki replies. “He is married?”

“Not in any of the realities I’ve visited. Dated a few women-” she cuts herself off with a shake of her head. “Why this interest in your Midgardian counterpart?” she challenges.

“Morbid curiosity, I suppose. To see how I might have lived, had I not been born of a race of monsters.” Loki replies.

Aleanna cups Loki’s cheek. “You are not a monster.”

He looks away from her and Aleanna drops her hand from his cheek. She picks up their empty bowls and starts walking to the sink. She catches Loki watching her with a smirk on his face and looses a wave of her magic, the bowls and spoons now clean and in their proper places. “Not a word,” she says discouragingly.

There’s a shuffling from the hallway and Peter walks in, hair in disarray. “Morning Mr. Loki, Ms. Aleanna.”

Loki and Aleanna share a look at their titles. “Morning,” they both reply.

Peter pulls out a box of cereal, bowl and milk and quickly makes short work of his breakfast. He talks to them between bites. “Mr. Stark’s AI told me that he left a while ago for New York Sanctum.” He says around a mouthful of sugary goodness. “It said you guys would be leaving soon, and I could get a ride with you.” He polishes off the bowl and walks it over to the sink, setting the bowl into it. He turns on the water and wets his hands, then runs them through his hair, quickly taming the mess. “Ready when you are,” he says cheerfully.


	46. It's Called Borrowing

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> :Rubs hands together: Bwahaha. I'm really excited for the next couple chapters. Hopefully you enjoy!
> 
> Also- 11 Kudos and over 350 views! Hugs and kisses dear readers, you guys rock!

#  _ It’s Called Borrowing _

The three make their way to the underground garage at the facility and Aleanna walks over to a beautiful graphite grey sports car. She runs her hand along the curved metal. “This, appropriately enough, is called a Venom GT Spyder,” she looks to Peter.

Peter swallows roughly. “Isn’t that one of Mr. Stark’s cars?” he questions.

Loki perks up. “Are we stealing one of Stark’s toys?” he asks eagerly.

“When you return something you use, it’s called borrowing,” Aleanna insists. She releases a flare of her magic and touches the door. She then pulls the handle to open it. “Come on then.”

Loki frowns at the leg room in the sports car. “You can’t be serious. Aleanna sighs and there’s a bright surge of her magic. The passenger seat of the Venom GT has shifted back to allow more leg room for Loki and there’s a new, small seat tucked behind the driver’s side. “Satisfied?” She asks.

“Very well.” Loki looks at the vehicle dubiously before climbing into the passenger side.

Aleanna tips the driver’s seat forward to allow Peter to slip into the back seat. “Come on Spiderling, let’s get rolling.” She eagerly sits in the driver’s seat. She runs her hands along the leather seat, then the steering wheel. With a surge of magic she starts the car and whips out of the parking garage.

“You seem quite taken with the car.” Loki murmurs to her.

“I’m not so different for any other woman, I am drawn to powerful things.” She simply states, locking eyes with him for a long moment before shifting them to the road in front of them. She turns south on 9W and increases her speed. Loki shifts uncomfortably in his seat. Aleanna looks over with a bright smile on her face. “Relax, enjoy the ride.” She magics a pair of sunglasses on and downshifts to make the corner. Soon they are on I-87.

Loki can feel Aleanna’s magic building in the air. “Aleanna?” he questions.

“I’m clearing the unnecessary traffic,” she replies and swerves around another driver.

Peter leans between the seats, “This is a foreign car, right?” he asks and blinks at the speedometer. “That’s in Kilometers, right?” he asks.

Loki leans over and looks at the speedometer, and answers Peter, “It is in miles.”

“We’re going over two hundred  _ miles  _ per hour?” Peter squeaks.

Aleanna chuckles, “Relax. The car is gloriously responsive.” She turns on the radio and sings along to Fall Out Boy’s  _ Immortals _ as it starts playing.

Peter leans back slowly and fumbles until his seatbelt is latched in place. 

The nearly two hour ride to New York is cut down significantly, and they are just reaching the outskirts of New York 40 minutes later. There’s a rumble in the air and the group looks towards the city to see a circular ship lowering towards the streets. “It looks like time’s run out.” Aleanna says quietly. She slows the sports car as she comes to the bridge, traffic still a nuisance despite the fact that the city has supposedly been evacuated.

Peter looks at the ship, then back at Aleanna. “We’re going to be too late.”

Aleanna concentrates on increasing her speed while dodging the other drivers.

“Mr. Loki, sir, could you open your window?” Peter is pulling his mask over his head. He pulls off his shirt to reveal the spiderman suit. Loki looks back, then fumbles with the controls on the window until it’s opened wide. “I’m real sorry, Mr. Loki,” Peter says, and while Loki is still trying to figure out why he’s sorry, Peter squeezes through the two bucket seats to the front climbing over Loki’s lap through the window, until he’s gripped to the top of the car. A string of his webbing shoots towards the post on the bridge and Peter launches himself off the car, over the water and towards the city.

A car slams into another in front of them, and Aleanna slams on her breaks, she hits the steering wheel with her hand and curses softly. “We’re not going to make it in time.” She unbuckles her seatbelt. “Come on.” They both slip out of the Venom GT. The spaceship begins to rise into the air. “If they are taken to Titan before we catch up to them, we’ll have an impossible time trying to reach them in time.” Aleanna takes a few steps forward, but is stopped by Loki’s hand around her wrist. “Can you do what you did before?” he asks. “To get me from Thanos, you boarded the ship on which he held me.”

Aleanna is shaking her head. “I-I was connected to you, I was able to pinpoint you, not the ship. I can’t get us on that ship now that it’s moving away-” she locks eyes with him. “But I could bring us to Titan.” She turns in the direction of the Avengers Headquarters building. “Come, I believe I can carry you and fly us there.”

“Wait, there is another way.” Loki replies. “I should be able to teleport us both the distance.”

“Here,” Aleanna impulsively presses her hand to his chest. Loki can feel a surge of power as he absorbs some of her magic. “I’ll need to get to Tony’s lab. Get us as close as you can.”

Loki nods and wraps his arms tightly around Aleanna. The world shifts.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Some really, really smart person has the awesome Google map of all the locations of Marvel Cinematic Universe stuff. Imagine my surprise when my search of "where is avengers headquarters upstate new york" provided a very interesting article on retrozap with a link to an awesome google map. Huge Kudos to the author/creator and I recommend you guys check it out!


	47. (Attack on) Titan

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry. :')

#  _ (Attack on) Titan _

Loki and Aleanna land in the lab and stand there clinging to one another for a moment. Aleanna stares at Loki’s chest and works to steady herself. She clears her throat and looks up to meet Loki’s eyes, “Ah, it’s- that’s quite disorientating.”

Loki reaches a hand up and gently brushes a rogue lock of hair from Aleanna’s face. “I-” 

He’s interrupted by a throat being cleared. Loki and Aleanna’s heads snap over to look at Anthony standing next to them. They quickly break apart. “You’re both trespassing.”

Aleanna shakes her head to clear her thoughts. “Anthony, if I’m not mistaken, Tony has been taken aboard a hostile spacecraft. I need to set up a bridge to Titan. We’ll need to close it immediately upon crossing through.” Aleanna flings four of her computer cubes to the floor and looks back at the AI. “Anthony?”

Anthony ignores her, “F.R.I.D.A.Y. can you relay to Mr. Stark that Aleanna and Loki are trespassing in the lab?”

F.R.I.D.A.Y. takes a moment to respond. “Message unable to be sent. I’ve just lost communication with Mr. Stark.”

Anthony turns to one of the displays and begins shifting through screens. “Explain. Reason for communication failure?”

“Mr. Stark has ventured outside of communication range.”

“Ridiculous, communication is available across the entire globe. How could he-” Anthony looks at Aleanna and Loki, then clicks through to another screen, this one shows news coverage of the alien ship lifting off from Earth. He swipes his hand to the side, clearing the screen. “Let's get started,” he murmurs softly.

Aleanna pulls Loki into the center of the cubes and raises the space map. “Remember to cut the power after we’ve passed through,” she reminds Anthony.

“Suit up,” Aleanna’s magic flares and she’s wearing more appropriate black fighting leathers, a sword strapped to her back. Loki’s clothes melt to his armor in a wave of green magic. Aleanna begins shifting through the star map. “I do not know the specific location of Titan.” She pulls the last location of the alien ship and pulls the map forward, following its trajectory.

Loki watches for a moment from behind Aleanna, then reaches over her shoulder to interact with the map. He brings his other hand up, moving the map until Titan can be seen on the display. “That is Titan.” He allows his hands to drop to his sides.

Aleanna pulls the image closer, locking it in place, then nods to Anthony. He begins to make adjustments on his screen. Aleanna grabs Loki’s arms and wraps them around her middle. “Hold tight.” She jumps forward into the display before Loki can object.

They float in space for only a second before soaring forward towards Titan. The drastic changes in gravity toss Aleanna and Loki around, ripping them from each other’s grasp. Aleanna struggles to fly towards Loki. She grasps his hand then wraps her arms around him. “Looks like Plan ‘B’,” she explains and winnows them from the air to the surface of the planet.

The swift move from flying to standing still has them both crashing to their knees. Loki is quick to get to his feet and he spins around looking for the Mad Titan. There’s a blast of light from Tony’s repulsor beam and he points, “There.”

Aleanna grabs Loki and winnows them one more time, to the edge of the battle. Thanos has Iron Man by the throat. Loki pulls out a pair of daggers and tosses one, then the other at Thanos. Thanos uses the power stone to halt the daggers and shatter them. Another dagger appears in each of Loki’s hands. Aleanna tosses a bolt of energy at Thanos, hitting him in the shoulder. He tosses Iron Man aside and turns to face Aleanna. “Bad move, little girl,” he says slowly.

Aleanna’s hair begins to stir as she pulls more power from inside herself. She raises her hands pushing the energy forward, knocking Thanos hard enough to make him stumble. Spiderman shoots a blast of webbing at Thanos’s face and Dr. Strange blasts him with mystic energy. Tony flies up to Aleanna in his Iron Man suit. “Am I glad to see you guys.”

Thanos brushed the web from his face and flings it to the ground. He glances at Peter, “Amusing.” He walks towards the webslinger. Aleanna quickly builds another ball of energy and pushes it into the ground, sending a massive wave of rock and her power blasting into Thanos. He grins at her. “Is that how you want to play it?” he asks as he raises his gauntlet at the broken moon in the sky. The power stone glows purple and an aura of purple light surrounds the rock.

Loki runs up to stand next to Aleanna. “How can we possibly defeat him?” he asks her. A chunk of moon breaks off and large chunks begin raining down on the surface of the planet. Aleanna raises a magic shield around Loki and herself. Dr. Strange, Spiderman and Iron Man gather together, Tony blasting the random rocks that fly towards them. Thanos pulls the remaining piece of moon down, looks at Aleanna with a menacing grin and then aims it towards the three heroes. Aleanna reaches her hand out trying to reverse the direction of the projectile. Her arm shakes with the effort. She gives up on stopping the enormous rock and tosses a shimmering shield of protection over the three. The rock crashes into it and the collision brings Aleanna to her knees, hand still outstretched to the group.

“Interesting,” is Thanos’s response. “You should be fighting for me, not against me. These weaklings are going to die.”

The magic shield shudders, then collapses. There’s a flash of golden light to the side and Dr. Strange walks through a portal, followed by Spiderman and Iron Man.

Aleanna releases the magic shield over herself and Loki, pulling her sword from its sheath and charging Thanos. She swings the sword, spinning under Thanos’s reach before coming up behind him, darting in to stab him in the side. The reality gem glows and Aleanna slows, Thanos pivots and backhands her across the battlefield. She flips to her feet, grabbing her sword once again.

Iron Man and Dr. Strange send more blasts at Thanos and Spiderman comes flipping at him. Thanos grabs Spiderman by the leg and flings him at Dr. Strange and Iron Man. Spiderman hits the two hard and all three land in a heap.

Thanos deflects another of Loki’s daggers and Aleanna comes at him with her sword once again. She brings it down in a devastating blow that Thanos deflects with the Infinity Gauntlet. He grabs her by the neck and rips the sword from her hand, flinging it to the ground. The reality stone glows and the ground under Iron Man, Dr. Strange and Spiderman suddenly peels away and they fall. The ground closes over them. “Pathetic,” he says.

Aleanna’s eyes go wide. Thanos raises her up by her neck and points the gauntlet at her, the power stone glowing purple. He releases her neck, holding her in the air with the power of the stone. “And now, you die.” Aleanna closes her eyes, and quickly builds her magic. There’s a burst of light, breaking the power stone’s hold on her. She flies through the air and lands heavily, rolling over several times.

Thanos reaches down and picks up Aleanna’s sword. Loki leaps in from behind Thanos, attempting to stab him in the back. The Mad Titan backhands Loki, sending him to the ground. He flips the sword over and raises it over Loki’s prone body. “You’ve disappointed me for the last time, Odinson,” he brings the sword down. “Time to die.”

“No!” Aleanna shouts, winnowing nearly directly into the space that Loki was occupying, the resulting blast of energy launches Loki twenty feet to the side. He slides another ten from the momentum. Thanos staggers, but remains on his feet. “You’ll do.” He reaches down and grabs Aleanna by the neck, lifting her into the air. “A pity. You would have made a worthy Child.”

He stabs her own sword through the middle of her abdomen, nearly to the hilt. She screams, ending on a sob of pain. Thanos brutally rips the sword sideways out of her. He looks at the blood on her sword, tosses it, then her to the ground.

There’s a roar of rage from Loki and he launches himself at Thanos, sinking a dagger deep into his side, up under his ribs. Thanos looks down at the dagger in confusion. The Mad Titan backhands Loki and he flies across the ground, dazed. Thanos staggers to his ship, blood pouring from his side, and launches it off the planet.

Loki forces himself to his feet and runs to Aleanna, falling to his knees and pulling her into his arms. She holds a trembling hand up to him and whispers weakly “...or die trying.” She weakly reaches her hand towards his face, and he holds it up to his cheek. Her breath comes in quick shallow pants.  “Don’t be sad.” She opens her mouth to try to say something else, but the words won’t form.

The black marks of the bargain begin fading from Aleanna’s skin and Loki turns his hand over and watches in horror as the marks fade from his own skin as well. “No. No, you can’t -” his breath catches on a sob in his throat. “You can’t leave.” Loki feels a stirring at his chest and looks down. Sindle crawls from his chest to Aleanna. “You are too late, Sindle.” Loki says bitterly. “Your mistress is gone.”

There’s a burst of light off to Loki’s right, but he does not stir. Sindle stands up taller on Aleanna’s chest, and hisses loudly, tail whipping at the newcomer. “Brother,” Thor’s voice calls. He stops several paces from Sindle. “I came as soon as I was able. Stormbreaker is able to call the bifrost. I dropped my companions on Earth and inquired as to your location.” Thor takes a hesitant step forward. Sindle huffs a warning puff of cold air at Thor. “Loki, please, call off your,” he hesitates a moment, “your dragon.” Thor takes in the bloody smudges on Loki’s cheek, the sword stained red and the still figure of the woman in Loki’s arms. “Brother,” Thor waits for Loki to look up at him, Loki raises his eyes to Thor, unshed tears shining in them as he looks at Thor. “What has happened here?”

Loki opens his mouth to respond when there’s a burst of magic energy, strong enough that even Thor can feel it. He takes a step back and raises his hand to ward off the wave of power. Aleanna suddenly grabs a fistful of Loki’s armor and takes a loud, gasping breath. Sindle darts from Aleanna’s chest up Loki’s arm to peer over his shoulder at Aleanna. Loki tightens his arms protectively around her. He pulls back to look down to where the sword sliced through her stomach. His magic flares and he removes the blood on her skin. He runs his shaking fingers over the now unmarred skin. After reassuring himself that she’s okay, he tucks her to his chest, hugging her tight to him. “How?” he asks softly. 

Aleanna speaks weakly to Loki. “Please, not here. The story is a long one.” She pushes slightly against him and he reluctantly helps her to her feet. Aleanna glances at Sindle sitting on Loki’s shoulder, “Finally awake I see.” Sindle flicks his tail in response.

Thor clears his throat and steps forward. “Loki, we must return to Earth.” Sindle eyes him with distrust but remains still on Loki’s shoulder.

There’s a blast from behind them and Loki spins to face the danger, smoothly shifting Aleanna behind him. Dr. Strange, Iron Man and Spiderman climb out of the ground coughing and covered in dust.

Thor walks towards the three, “Stark, is that you?”

“No Point Break, it’s Pick Axe Pete.” Tony flops down on the ground and opens his face mask.

Dr. Strange stands up and looks across the barren planet. “Where did Thanos go?”

“He fled,” Loki meets Strange’s eyes. “I stabbed him, and he fled in his spaceship.”

“So we bought ourselves a little time.” Dr. Strange says.

Peter sits on his heels and pulls off his facemask. “Mr. Stark, I think I’m ready to go home now.”

Tony reaches over and pats Peter’s knee. “Me too, kid, me too.”

Thor looks to Loki, “Lets get-”

“No,” Aleanna says softly to Loki, “Have him bring them back first. I need a moment.”

“Come back for us, Thor. Take the Little Spider home. Take the wizard and Stark.” Loki meets his brother’s gaze.

“As you wish, Brother.” Thor walks over to the three and Tony struggles to his feet. “Little Spider, I am Thor.” He holds his hand out to Peter, who stands to shake his hand, “I am pleased to meet you. Let's get you home, shall we? Gentlemen?” Thor stands between them. They all shift closer, Thor raises his ax and the bifrost blasts down on them. When the light fades all four are gone.

Aleanna turns to where her sword lay on the ground. Loki swiftly moves ahead of her, swooping down to grab the sword, Sindle chirping in surprise at the quick movement.

He stares at the sword for a long moment. “Loki.” Aleanna says, gentling her voice. He breaks out of his thoughts to meet her eyes. “I am well now.”

He magics the blood from the blade and holds it out to Aleanna. She turns it and sheaths it on her back in one smooth motion. Sindle leaps from Loki’s shoulder gliding through the air to land on Aleanna’s arm, then walks down to her waist and disappears into the pocket dimension. 

Aleanna looks at the pools of blood soaking into the ground, she raises her hand and her magic slowly starts to raise. Loki grasps her wrist and looks at her searchingly “I have to cleanse my blood from this planet,” she explains.

She tries to pull her wrist from his grasp, but he refuses to let go. “I will do it.” She nods her agreement and he drops her wrist. His magic flares and the blood vanishes from the planet’s surface. Loki turns to face Aleanna and searches her eyes. “I-” 

The bright light of the bifrost interrupts him and he looks over to see Thor walking towards them. Loki allows himself a smile as Thor grasps him in a great big hug. “Hello again, Brother.” Loki says drily. He gives a genuine smile and after a moment’s hesitation, hugs Thor back.

“And who is your friend?” Thor asks.

“May I present Lady Aleanna,” Loki motions to Aleanna beside him.

Aleanna offers her hand and Thor takes it, kissing her knuckles lightly. “Pleased to make your acquaintance,” he says with a smile.

“It’s nice to finally meet Loki’s brother.” Aleanna frees her hand and unconsciously puts it on the crook of Loki’s arm; the motion a habit left from the bargain. Loki covers it with his free hand.

Thor looks with curiosity between them. “Well, let’s get back to headquarters.” He places his hand on Aleanna’s shoulder, lifts Stormbreaker and calls the bifrost.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've slowed down in posting for a few reasons, one of them being that I am getting close to the end of the story and I'm not sure I've got the pacing right. I feel like I need to read everything through one more time front to back to get a feel for if it transitions right. 
> 
> Hopefully this longer chapter makes up for the waiting. Thanks again for all the kudos and views. Hugs and kisses to you, readers!
> 
> P.S. We're getting to some origin story stuff. I hope you enjoy the next few chapters!!


	48. Missing Pieces

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sooo... I really get hung up on possible plot holes. I've attempted to stuff my own explanation into what I feel is a Marvel movie plot hole. :)
> 
> I also have some crazy head cannon about Loki's origin. There's only a hint of it in this chapter. I've finally fully worked out the rest and written it down. We've a ways to go before that gets figured out though, dear reader!

#  _ Missing Pieces _

Thor transports them to the lawn outside Avengers HQ. Immediately upon landing, Loki turns to Aleanna, scooping her into his arms despite her objections. His long legs make quick work of the distance to the door. “You will rest. Then you will explain how you survived being gutted.”

Thor trails behind Loki. “Brother,” he calls, “we must decide on our strategy before Thanos next attacks.”

“Gather the rest of your friends and start strategizing if you wish, Thor.” Loki turns to his brother, “I have more pressing matters I must attend to. You can find us in our room later. It is across from Stark’s.” Loki turns back around and walks through the door.

*****

Loki walks through the door of their shared quarters and magics Aleanna’s clothing into sleep pants and a soft t-shirt. He gently lays Aleanna on the bed and pulls the comforter over her. He pulls at a strand of magic and gives Aleanna a whispered command, “ _ Sleep _ .” Her eyes drift shut. Loki brings one of the chairs next to the bed and sinks into it. He pulls out the sketchbook and flips through it slowly, murmuring phrases softly.

*****

A movement in the door catches Loki’s eye and he looks up from the sketchbook. Thor stands in the hall. The sketchbook vanishes from Loki’s hands and he walks quickly to the hall, closing the door. “Yes?”

Thor grabs Loki’s shoulders and looks him over. “It pleases me that you are okay. I feared the worst when the others said you were taken. I scarcely dared to hope that it was truly you in the message we received from Earth.”

Loki allows Thor to grab him for a long moment, then pushes his brother back. “I am fine, surely you have other reasons for seeking me out.”

“Loki, it’s been nearly two hours. Stark is demanding an explanation. He seems reluctant to leave Lady Aleanna in your care,” Thor says apologetically.

Loki frowns at Thor. “She will rest for as long as she needs. I will not wake her a moment sooner than necessary.”

Thor grasps Loki’s forearm. “Brother, who is she? Where is she from? Her wounds,” Thor hesitates, “Her wounds should have been fatal. Had either of us borne the same wound we would have died.”

Loki looks into Thor’s eyes and shakes his head. “She did die!” he hisses and pulls his arm from Thor’s grasp. “I saw the light fade from her eyes, and her chest ceased all movement.” He meets Thor’s eyes with tears swimming in his own. “I do not know by what means she came back.” He shakes the emotions and allows a mask of indifference to drop over his features. “I intend to find out. As to where Aleanna comes from, she claims to be a traveller, wandering through versions of the multiverse.” Loki remembers the image she shared of his “death” on Svartalfheim and says, “She had significant evidence to back up her claim.”

Thor waits for further explanation, before finally asking, “What should I tell Stark?”

“Tell him to order some food, I’m hungry,” Loki grumbles.

“Loki, I’m serious.”

“As am I, Brother,” he meets Thor’s eyes and sighs, “Tell him I will wake Aleanna in time for lunch. Perhaps he will get the hint and order something to eat.”

“Very well, Loki,” Thor agrees and walks away down the hall.

Loki returns to the room and sinks into the chair next to the bed. He watches the rise and fall of Aleanna’s chest for a moment before moving his eyes to her face.

Aleanna’s eyes flutter open. “Mmm, I fell asleep?”

Loki gives her a sheepish look. “I may have aided the process with magic,” he answers honestly.

Aleanna swiftly shifts to sitting and reaches up to touch the unfamiliar clothing she is wearing.

“Your garments were quite damaged, and, I imagine, not at all comfortable to sleep in.”

“Yes, of course,” Aleanna mumbles softly, trying to catch her stray thoughts. She meets his eyes, “I died. In front of you.”

“You did.”

“And I promised an explanation,” she stands from the bed. There’s a flare of magic from her and her clothes change into a simple pair of jeans and a t-shirt that says “Revengers” in the “Avengers” font on it. Aleanna’s stomach gurgles and she rests her hand on it. “Perhaps we should search for something to eat.”

Loki offers his arm and Aleanna hooks her hand in the crook of it. The pair walk to the dining room and stop to watch Thor carefully place a plate, fork and glass at six spots at the table.

Loki clears his throat and Thor looks up with a smile, “Brother!”

Loki gives a slight bob of his head in response.

“Tony has taken Peter to Rosendale to get some pizza,” Thor explains. “Agents Romanoff and Barton, Captain Rogers and Mr. Barnes left to aid in the protection of Vision when Dr. Strange was taken off-world and they could not follow. They managed to repel the attackers at the school, but are staying to aid in cleanup. They intend to return later this evening.” He lays down the last fork and continues explaining. “Dr. Strange left for his sanctum to check on the progress of the research at the library. He said a umm Mr. Wong is overseeing Shuri and Bruce’s efforts to unlock some secret about the Infinity Stones that will aid in our defeat of Thanos.”

Aleanna takes a step forward, unconsciously slipping one hand down into Loki’s before extending her other hand to Thor. “Thank you,” she says, “For coming to Titan and rescuing us all.”

Thor gives a charming grin and shakes her hand, “Of course, My Lady. It was my pleasure.” 

Thor begins to loosen his grip on Aleanna and take a step back, when she grasps his hand tighter. His smile turns brittle and he looks uncomfortably between Loki and Aleanna. “My Lady, I-”

“Shh,” Aleanna shifts so she is standing between the brothers and closes her eyes in concentration. Loki feels her magic start to build against his palm.

After a few moments her eyes open and she drops Thor’s hand and takes a step closer to Loki. He frees his hand and rests it at the small of her back. “Aleanna?”

She shakes her head in confusion, “You are related.”

“Ah yes, Lady Aleanna,” Thor begins, understanding in his voice. “Loki is my adopted brother.”

“Be that as it may, you are also related by blood.” Aleanna states confidently. Loki looks at her, his brows drawn together in thought.

Thor smiles again, “My Lady, that is not possible. Loki is Jotun.”

Aleanna gives a challenging look. “His father was Jotun, but what of Loki’s birth mother?”

Thor’s face turns contemplative, and he is at a loss for words.

“You share a bloodline.” Aleanna states again.

“But how would, what I mean is,” Thor struggles to make sense of his jumbled thoughts. “How could such a thing remain a secret, and why would Father not tell you when you learned of your Jotun heritage?” Thor asks Loki.

Loki speaks sullenly, “It would not be the first time the All-Father has kept secrets for us.”

“Yes, your older sister.” Aleanna cuts in suddenly. She turns and touches Loki’s arm. “To keep a secret of that magnitude hidden there had to be more than just a- a royal decree.” She shakes her head, meeting Loki’s eyes. “Think about it, servants talk. There would at least have been rumors circulating about your sister. Neither of you knew  _ anything _ . No, Odin used magic, powerful magic. He must have done the same to hide your lineage from all of Asgard.”

Loki turns to Thor, “On Sakaar you told a charming story of my childhood exploits, tricking and then stabbing you. Do you remember what you said.”

“Loki I hardly think a story about when we were eight matters.” Thor replies.

“Thor, think.” Loki replies. “You just said ‘when  _ we were eight _ .’ We grew up thinking we were brothers, and yet we were the _ same age _ … and we thought that was not odd in the least. Oh yes, the All-Father used powerful magics to hide the truth.”

Thor frowns in thought, shaking his head.

The scent of pizza fills the room just seconds before Tony walks in with Peter behind him carrying four large pizzas. Tony tosses a box of breadsticks on the table. “Someone care to explain to me how my Venom GT might have come to be missing from the garage?”

“Nat needed it to get to Professor Xavier’s school?” Aleanna suggests innocently.

“Nice try, I already got a confession from Peter.” Peter is setting the boxes of pizza down at the table, and ducks his head at this. “I just wanted to hear what kind of explanation you could  _ possibly  _ come up with for stealing my baby.” Tony replies with a frown.

Aleanna mischievously grins at Tony, “Well you did ask how it  _ might _ , not how it _ actually did _ end up missing.” She pauses then comments, “...And I’m almost certain I know its current location.”

Tony shoots a frown at Aleanna and waits.

Aleanna opens her mouth then snaps it closed, then finally replies, “I shall retrieve it and return it to its proper parking spot unharmed.”

Tony raises an eyebrow at her. “See that you do. I don’t like people taking my stuff.” He gestures to Aleanna’s shirt, a puzzled look on his face. “What’s a Revenger?”

Thor begins coughing and the group looks over to see him blushing. Aleanna raises an eyebrow at him. He looks at Aleanna’s shirt in confusion. Loki busts out laughing. “I believe it is a jest targeted at my brother.”

“How is it she knows of the events on Sakaar?” Thor asks.

“She’s traveled outside this reality,” comes the reply from Dr. Strange, his portal fading behind him. “Sorry I’m late. Shuri and Bruce have decided to continue researching.”

Thor’s eyes shift to Aleanna. “You are a wizard, like Dr. Strange?”

“More than that.” Aleanna says. “The food is getting cold. Perhaps we should sit down, eat.” She motions to the pizzas.

The group sinks into their chairs and pulls slices of pizza onto their respective plates. 

The room grows quiet as they eat, finally Loki speaks, “Aleanna. You promised answers. You must tell us what’s going on.”

“Must I?” She asks pleadingly. 

Loki slams his fist on the table in frustration, “You  _ died _ !”

Aleanna gives him a weak smile. “I got bettah,” she replies with an accent.

“I’m sorry," Tony cuts in, “did you just make a Monty Python joke, about your own _death_?” He rubs his hand over his face. “I wondered why there was a sudden lack of matching tat sleeves,” he mumbles to himself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The next chapter will have some origin story info in it.


	49. Not so long ago, in a version of the multiverse far, far away...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 400 views. Thank you readers, you are all awesome!

#  _Not so long ago, in a version of the multiverse far, far away…_

Aleanna sighs and pushes her plate away. “My story is… hard for me to talk of. Let me figure out where to start.”

The rest of the group quiets as they wait. “I was born in May of 1981 on a version of Earth not so different from this one, discluding the presence of superheroes, demi-gods, mutants, and wizards.” Her lips tip up in a smile as she looks around the table and continues. “I came from a middle-class, two parent home, and had a relatively happy childhood. My father was a blackbelt in several martial arts and he started training me in them, and in various weapons, almost from the moment I could stand on my own.” Her lips turn up at the memories. “I grew up and went to college. My parents decided the house was too quiet and adopted a little boy from China. At college, I was focused on the things girls typically are; parties, boys, finishing my classes. On the day I graduated from my local college, I hugged and kissed my parents and brother and went out to eat and celebrate with my friends. I didn’t know that was the last time I would see them alive.”

Aleanna is quiet for a moment, Loki reaches over and grabs her hand in support. She continues, “I came home to blood, death.” Aleanna’s emotions cause her magic to flare and Loki sees a flash of Aleanna’s family from her memories, bloody and laying around their dining room table. Bullets in each of their chests. Loki impulsively holds the magic connection between them open.

Aleanna’s eyes are glossy with unshed tears, “The police said it was a junkie looking to get some quick money. My father,” she huffs a bitter laugh, “My father, the black belt, attempted to disarm him. He wasn’t faster than the bullet from the meth head’s gun. The cops ended up finding the guy dead a few days later. Drug deal gone wrong.

“My parents left a note in their will, asking my godfather, Mac, to help watch over me for the next few years. I had last seen Mac when I was very little, but he and my father were very good friends. Mac asked a close friend, a professor at the school I was going to get my Master’s at, to provide me with a place to stay.” _Loki sees a flash of man with his hair pulled back in a pony introducing a dark haired man to Aleanna as she walks up._

“The rest of my college days went by uneventfully. I secluded myself, avoiding the boys, parties, the selfish things I focused on just a year earlier. The professor, Adam, was one of the few people I talked to. He was a linguist, and taught a few of my classes.” Aleanna shakes her head and gets back to the story. “Adam had a love for exotic beers and I found out the proprietor of a bar not too far from where we lived that was very good at finding new brews for me.” _Loki sees Aleanna walking into a bar, and greet a man with a smile, ‘Hey Lucian, anything new for me today?’_ “I graduated with my Master’s, brought Adam some imported beers and he convinced me I should celebrate.” A slight blush raises to her cheeks. “We- we were intimate. It meant more to me, than to him.” _Loki gets a flash of skin, of bodies moving together in an ancient rhythm._ Jealousy flares and he squeezes Aleanna’s hand a little tighter. “When he lashed out, I left and used retail therapy to make myself feel better.” _Another flash of Adam yelling at Aleanna, ‘Don’t you get it? We aren’t good for each other. It was a mistake.’_ “I took a spa day, pampered myself, bought a fantastic new dress and decided I needed to suck it up. I went back home when I knew Adam had office hours, left him a note saying I was leaving. I planned on heading back to my hometown.”

She glances up at the group around the table. “Life would have been much different for me had I just flew home that night. I decided to say goodbye to Lucian, the owner of the bar, the one I had been getting the beer from. He’d become a friend and I thought I owed him a goodbye.” _Loki sees Aleanna walk into a bar just before opening time, ‘Hey Lucian. Just wanted to let you know I won’t be in to get any more beer. I’m going back to my hometown. Adam... Adam can connect with you directly if he want to obtain more samples of exotic beers.’_ “Lucian told me he had just received another shipment for me, and asked me to follow him to get it. He got me alone, and he- he attacked me.” _Aleanna stands looking around an unfamiliar room and Lucian comes up behind her and sinks his teeth into her neck. She fights, scratching at his face and stomping on his foot._

Aleanna’s voice drops in volume. “He was a vampire. He bit me planned on turning me. I fought- but his arms were like steel. I was no match. He lost control, draining me too far. My death was violent and bloody. Adam found my note soon after I had left it and went searching for me. He tracked me to the bar and the apartment above it that I had followed the vampire into. Adam found a distraught vampire trying to feed his blood to a corpse. He took my body from Lucian.” _There’s a flash of Adam standing over Lucian with a sword raised. ‘You meddle in things you know nothing about, monster.’ He lifts Aleanna’s body, carrying her from the apartment._

“I do not know how Adam snuck a bloody corpse the ten blocks home, but I woke in my own bed, Adam frowning over me.” Tony opens his mouth to ask a question but Aleanna pulls her hand from Loki’s and raises it to stall him. “I am a part of a group of immortals- born of humans, living among them, and dying as one of them, unless we die a violent death. Our bodies change in that moment- perhaps releasing a chemical like adrenaline, only whatever it is makes us become something... _other_. Mac and Adam were also both immortals. They explained that there were many of us living throughout the ages, hidden among the humans, and fighting amongst ourselves. Take an immortal’s head, and in doing so, killing him, would also take his power,” she looks over at Loki, “It took us a while to discover that Lucian’s actions caused significant alterations to my immortal life. My first indication that something was wrong was when I couldn’t keep food down.”

Aleanna shakes her head, bitter smile on her face. “I am unreasonably stubborn. When Adam finally suggested that I take blood as a way to try to sustain myself, I refused outright. I would not feed on innocents. For days I was only able to drink small amounts of water. Things came to a head on the fourth day.” She becomes lost in her memories and says nothing for a long moment.

Dr. Strange prompts her, “What happened on the fourth day?”

Aleanna meets Dr. Strange’s eyes. “I died.” she replies. “I died countless times between the moment of my first death and when I finally was able to survive normally. And I did it all without resorting to feeding on blood. In a moment of desperation I walked into a church not far from the apartment. I stood in that holy place, and swore that if I could grow beyond this weak half-life of dying of hunger every few days, I would not take the life of any creature with a soul… and maybe someone heard me.

“My physiology altered slowly, but eventually I started eating again. I also continued training with a sword so I could better defend myself against other immortals. I got a job working on virtual reality for a company that had released an MMO.” She glances at the confused asgardians, “Umm - a game that a large number of people from around the world play as a group on the internet. They wanted to build in VR elements to the gameplay.

“I played a ‘Night Elf’ rogue in on a standard server and later she was moved to a beta server specially created for testing VR play. One day Adam walked into the simulation room to see my arm be sliced open, then heal back over again. He pulled me from the simulation as soon as he could. Somehow my mind had drifted so far into it that the damage I had received from the game physically manifested on me in real life.

“One night a few weeks later I was working late and I- I think- I fell asleep while in the VR simulation of the game. In my dream I was fighting several of the large spiders that infest many of the wooded areas in the game. Reality shifted, the spiders becoming larger and altering in form. I was no longer dreaming. The spiders hissed and chattered to one another in a language I did not understand. I was nearly spider food. A group of elves patrolling the forest killed the spiders and took me to their home.

“I had ended up in a world where technology and science were all but non-existent. It took my body ages to alter enough that I was able to use magic to move from that reality. When I was able to leave that reality, I visited the people of the Star Wars galaxy. I’ve been traveling ever since.” She falls silent.

Aleanna grabs a breadstick and pulls it apart, eating it in small bites. She stops when she realizes no one has said anything yet. She raises her eyes to find everyone looking at her. “What?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aaaand there's where she came from. More or less. There are a few more details that will be revealed next chapter.
> 
> Does anyone know if I should tag Highlander, the TV Series, Forever Knight, etc. when when I mention one or two characters as part of a back story? =/ I don't really know what's typical. If anyone has some hard and fast rules on this, I'd love to know. =)


	50. Taking Memories with You

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A little more backstory for you in this chapter.

#  _Taking Memories with You_

Tony is the first to speak. “You said before that you have to be careful not to expose yourself to new abilities. You didn’t want to acquire any new ones. It sounds like the process takes a long time.”

Aleanna stands from her chair and begins pacing as she speaks. “As I adapted, the ability to absorb new abilities became more powerful. Suddenly moments spent in the presence of a new ability meant that I gained it as well.” Aleanna explains.

“It doesn’t sound like a bad thing.” Tony comments.

“It wasn’t. What I mean is, it didn’t seem to be at first… but then, I was exposed to a Fae High Lord, and then later a Cait Sidhe and a-”

“Wait” Peter asks. “What’s a _kayth shee_?”

“Cait Sidhe are Faery cats.” Aleanna releases a little power and her features alter, she gains tufted white cat ears and the pupils in her blue eyes becoming vertical slits. A white tail swishes behind her back. She raises sharp clawed fingernails at the group, giving a playful hiss before reverting to her previous self.

“Cool,” Peter says softly.

“Most beings from Faery hold a common weakness, do you know what it is?” Aleanna asks Peter.

“Umm,” Peter thinks for a moment.

“Iron,” Dr. Strange replies. “If common folklore is to be believed.”

Aleanna nods, “Correct. And the wood of an ash tree can be fatal to certain High Fae. My point is, I started to become something of a glass cannon, immensely powerful and frightfully breakable.”

“I slowly formed some basic resistances to the substances that had previously been fatal to me. I shifted the magic that held the abilities of those races deep inside me. After that I avoided exposing myself to new abilities until I was altered enough to build resistances to them. It all happens quite quickly now.”

“You mentioned elves. Did you journey to Alfheim?” Thor asks. “Surely the elves there could have helped you return home.”

“I did not journey to Alfheim. I journeyed to Middle Earth,” Aleanna replies.

“ _Middle Earth_ , Middle Earth?” Peter perks up. “Like Lord of the Rings?”

“Like Lord of the Rings,” she confirms, “only before the fellowship was formed, and before the events of The Hobbit.”

“That is so cool,” Peter says again.

Aleanna chuckles and grins at Peter. “Perhaps you’ll enjoy this then.” She pulls out a cube and floats it in the air. She makes a series of hand motions and then steps back and raises her hands towards it. “Tony, do you remember when I said that I had a hard time leaving certain individuals from my past?”

“Yeah, you said you made an AI of them to take with you.” Tony replies.

Aleanna activates the cube and smiles, “Meet Legolas.”

There’s a flash of light and a lean figure appears in place of the cube. He glances around the room, then rapidly draws an arrow into his bow, the movement too fast for human eyes to track.

“Legolas,” Aleanna snaps. “Peace. They are friends.”

Legolas turns to Aleanna, releases the tension on the bow, and breaks into a smile. He wraps his arms around her, lifting her and spins them, both chuckling, around in a circle before releasing her and setting her on her feet again. Loki looks at the pair with a pained expression on his face.

Legolas steps back to look at Aleanna. “You look awful,” he declares.

Aleanna steps forward and stiff-arms him, sending him back a few steps. “If that’s the way you’re going to be, I’ll shut the program down.”

Legolas laughs and pulls a face at Aleanna, “Do not act in haste.” He scans her face again. “Seriously though, what have you done to yourself? You look-”

“I look human,” she cuts him off.

Tony cuts in, “Umm, time out pointy ears,” he makes the “T” sign with his hands, “Let’s back up a minute. Why wouldn’t Aleanna look human?”

Legolas’s eyes bounce around the room again. “Why am I not surprised to find you among the race of men?” he sighs and narrows his eyes at her. “Are you going to tell them, or shall I?”

“Humans. Here, they are called humans.” Aleanna crosses her arms at the elf and then drops them, turning to the group at the table. “I mentioned before that I stayed among the elves until my body altered enough to use magic for travel… that included my physical features as well.” Her skin begins to glow and her features shift, cheekbones becoming slightly more prominent, some of the curl pulling out of her hair, which grows longer, drifting to her waist and lightens to an almost silvery-blonde. The most drastic change is to her ears, which grow to points. The all-over effect gives her an unearthly look- a look of being something _other_. “As I stayed among them, I started to become more and more elf-like.”

Legolas scowls at Aleanna, “Are you ashamed of your elvish heritage, Sister?”

“Sister?” Thor asks with confusion.

“Sister,” Loki repeats with relief.

Aleanna gives a look that is somehow humored and exasperated, “Adopted. I was adopted.”

Legolas pulls his shoulders back and juts out his chin, “You are Lady Aleanna Thranduilion, beloved Princess of the Woodland Realm, Aurielle Aduial, keeper of Gil-el.” He glances at the group again, “and you are wasting time associating with...” he gives a look of disdain, “ _humans_.”

“I am.” Aleanna finally replies. “It is my choice to make. Whom I would choose to build friendships with is not your concern.”

“Next you’ll tell me you’re headed to the Halls of Durin to visit the dwarves.” Legolas scoffs.

“Wait a sec.” Peter says slowly. “I thought Legolas was friends with Gimli.”

“I created a memory of my brother as he was when I knew him, not allowing it to change, or adapt from that moment. He was a little less… tolerant of the other races when he was younger,” Aleanna explains.

“Unlearning AI,” Tony mumbles.

“Legolas,” Aleanna motions to the group, “I would very much like you to meet my companions, and I trust you will treat them with the respect they are due.” She motions to each of the individuals around the table, “This is Peter Parker and that’s Dr. Stephen Strange, that is Anthony Stark- he prefers Tony. And the brothers are Thor and Loki Odinson.” Aleanna reaches for a napkin and scribbles something on it. She hands it over to Tony. “If Legolas becomes an irritation here’s the shutdown phrase.”

A hurt look crosses the elf’s face. Aleanna pats his arm with a look of fake sympathy. “Just play nice.” She addresses the group at large. “Feel free to ask him questions about the Woodland Realm and Middle Earth. Legolas loves his homeland. Perhaps a trip to the training center might entertain as well.” Aleanna waves to the group. “I’ll be back soon.”

“Where are you going?” Tony asks with confusion.

Aleanna smirks at him, “I’ve got a car to return.” Loki stands and follows her from the room.

*****

As the pair walk outside Loki pulls Aleanna to a stop. “Lady Aleanna Thranduilion, beloved Princess of the Woodland Realm, Aurielle Aduial, keeper of Gil-el,” he asks as he scans her slightly altered features.

Aleanna blushes slightly, “A ridiculous, over complicated mouthful.” She drops her eyes to the ground. “Please, just Aleanna. Legolas is… overstating things.” She raises her eyes to meet his. “My first ten years of living in the Elfking’s Hall I was locked in the dungeon.” She smirks. “Ten years is a blink of the eye to the elves. They meant to use the threat of a life wasted in their dungeon to pull the truth of how I came to be in their lands from me. There was no story to tell, as I did not know how I had come to be there myself.”

“And why were you loosed from your prison?” Loki asks. “What changed?”

“I did,” she replies, “My ears slowly started to point and my skin took on the slightly ethereal glow of their kind. Legolas went to his father and petitioned on my behalf. I never learned the reasons Legolas gave his father for my release, but within a fortnight I was allowed to leave the dungeon, so long as I had an escort. At times, that escort was Legolas.

“Years passed and my features became increasingly elvish, only instead of taking on the darker hair color and features of the common Silvan elves that the Elfking ruled over, I became increasingly Sindarin, like Legolas and his father. The ruling elves of Middle Earth possess the power to occasionally catch glimpses of possible futures. It was rumored that the Elfking saw one such future. Shortly after, he proclaimed me his daughter. Then, about a thousand years after I first stepped into the Woodland Realm, I left.”

Loki turns to look at the treeline beyond them. “As you will one day leave Midgard?” he asks softly.

“When the time comes, yes. My stay here is far from over. I promised to help defeat the Mad Titan and I mean to keep that promise.” They both are quiet for a few moments then, “I also mean to keep my promise of retrieving Tony’s car. I may be able to fly us to -”

“Don’t even consider it,” Loki warns. “I would prefer to move to the location of the vehicle under my own power.”

Aleanna nods, “Alright, I’ll just-” Loki spins around and wraps his arms tightly around Aleanna, teleporting instantly.

The pair land in the walkway of the bridge, Aleanna clinging to Loki in an attempt to keep on her feet. “You are lucky I don’t barf on your boots,” Aleanna mumbles.

“I trust your constitution is hardier than that,” comes the amused reply. “But I do appreciate your restraint.” Loki jests. He turns and looks at the bridge, vacant but for the sports car and the crashed vehicles that caused them to abandon it. “It appears they’re convinced the rest of New York to evacuate, or at least remain off the roads. It only took an actual attack from space.” He motions for Aleanna to proceed him, “After you, Lady Aleanna.”

Loki and Aleanna slip into the Venom and Aleanna works it around until they are driving the wrong way back down the bridge. She reaches the end of the bridge, moves over to the right side of the road and increases her speed, heading back up-state. “Do you drive, Loki?”

“Midgardian vehicles? Not if I can avoid it.”

She glances at him, then back at the road. “Because cars are compact metal death-traps?” she guesses.

“Because I prefer the speed of teleporting where I need to go.”

“And if teleporting is not practical? How would you next prefer to travel?”

Loki is quiet for a long moment before answering, “I’m really quite fond of riding horses.”

“Horses?”

“Indeed. I find horseback riding relaxing and enjoyable,” Loki admits.

“Tell me of the nine realms, which you’ve visited, which you found... enjoyable.”

Loki begins to tell Aleanna of his adventures in the nine realms as they continue at a much more reasonable speed back to the garage.

Aleanna speaks as they pull into the garage, “I’m headed to Tony’s lab. Do you want to join me?”

“I believe I should go in search of Thor.” Loki remarks as he climbs out of the sports car. “Thank you.”

Aleanna gives a single nod of her head and then shifts her fingers through a series of movements before touching the Venom GT, returning it to its previous state.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So- yeah. There's the rest of the backstory. I hope you've enjoyed so far. I really wish I had more time to commit to writing on this story. I do have a rough idea for two more books and some "novella" or "prequel" sort of stories to add later on- my busy schedule is just keeping me from continuing at the pace that I would like to be going at. 
> 
> Thank you all for the Kudos and view, dear readers! I really appreciate all the love!


	51. An Even Trade

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delay. This time of year is always crazy for me. =/

#  _An Even Trade_

“Hey Tony,” Aleanna taps on the glass door leading to Tony’s private lab and waits for him to unlock it for her.

Tony looks at Aleanna through the display he’s working at. “Aleanna. I trust my baby is back in her parking spot?”

“Returned in immaculate condition, as promised,” she replies, walking into the lab. Her eyes flick to the display and she smirks. “Having any luck reverse engineering my computer cube?”

Tony crosses his arms. “It offends me that you would think so little of me.”

Aleanna says nothing, just raises her eyebrow at Tony.

“What makes you think we’re working on,” he pauses and casually flicks through a few panels of information on his screen, “reverse engineering your tech?” He raises his eyes to meet hers to see how she’s reacting.

Aleanna touches a shrunken panel and brings up the image in it. “It could have something to do with the fact that this is a model of the Mark 48 that is being reworked into the Mark 49 suit. Your nano-suit - suit 50 - made that one obsolete.” She holds his gaze for a long moment. “Plus Anthony is still running benchmarks over there.”

Tony looks over at the AI in irritation. “What?” Anthony looks confused. “They were nearly complete.”

Aleanna holds her hand out for the cubes. Tony sighs and pulls them from the device they were hooked to. He sets them in Aleanna’s hand. His brows draw together, “Where is your Asgardian sidekick?”

Aleanna frowns in disapproval at the slight to Loki, but doesn’t address it. “Loki went to see his brother, I suspect they are in the training room.” She blinks, realizing she is aware of exactly where Loki is in the building. “No, Loki is on his way here, looking for me.”

Aleanna turns to the door seconds before Loki appears at it. Standing behind the glass. Tony punches in the code to unlock it, but Loki teleports himself through before Tony can swing the door open. He appears next to Aleanna.

“Please, come on in,” Tony says and mockingly motions his hand from the empty doorway to the lab.

Loki ignores Tony. “I require your presence,” he says to Aleanna.

She quirks a brow to Tony. “It appears that I am needed,” she holds her hand out, cubes laying in it. “Thank you for the return of my cubes.”

She walks out the door that Tony is still holding open. Loki trails behind, using his magic to make the cube that Aleanna has given him appear in his hand. He tosses it up, catches it, then magics it away with a mischievous grin at Tony. He casually struts out of the lab.

*****

Aleanna and Loki walk down the hallway, Loki steering them towards the training center. “You really enjoy tormenting Tony, don’t you.”

“I have no idea what it is you are referring to,” Loki says smugly.

“You know _precisely_ what I am talking about, but that’s not important right now.” Aleanna gives him a challenging look. “What exactly did you need me for?”

Loki gives Aleanna a look filled with mischievous intent, “that _is_ a complicated question,” he murmurs softly under his breath. He shakes himself from his thoughts and responds, “There are two reasons, the most pressing having to do with the AI of your brother.” He opens the door to the training center and motions for her to walk inside.

Aleanna stumbles to a halt as she walks in to complete chaos. Legolas is guarding Peter, who is holding his upper arm. They are facing off against a gun-toting Rocket and Groot, who has an arrow sticking out of his leg. Thor is standing between the two groups arms upraised as if to calm everyone.

Loki sidles up behind her, “The situation seems to have devolved somewhat since I left.”

“Legolas,” Aleanna cries, _“Daro! Pe-channas!”_ Loki hears the words and the simultaneous translation All-Speak provides in his mind: _Stop! Idiot!_  Aleanna switches to English. “Why do you bear your arms against Earth’s allies?” she asks.

Both Rocket and Legolas start talking at once. Crackling bolts of lightning build on Thor’s skin and his releases a wave of lightning from his body into the floor. “Enough!” he says to the two, then addresses Aleanna. “It was merely a misunderstanding.” He reinforces the statement with a look at Rocket, who sighs and hosters his gun on his back.

Aleanna hears Legolas mumble something that sounds suspiciously like _evil ent_ and she gives him a sharp look. “We are _all_ allies here. There is no need to resort to hostility.” She stares down Legolas, who quickly releases the tension on his bow and returns his arrow to his quiver in one swift motion. Aleanna moves to stand next to Thor facing the offworlders, “Rocket, Groot, it is a pleasure to finally meet you both in person,” she raises her right hand to her chest and turns her left hand over palm up and extended towards them.

“I am Groot,” Groot grumbles.

“Yeah, yeah Lady, some welcome wagon these two are,” Rocket says snarkily, motioning to Peter and Legolas. His eyes narrow as he looks Aleanna’s pointed ears and sharper cheekbones over. “You’re looking a little _pointier_ than when we talked over the comm,” he comments.”What gives?”

“I re-altered my DNA to more closely match my current natural state.” Aleanna replies.

“If you say so, freak show,” Rocket snarks with a shake of his head.

“I am groot!” Groot says.

“What?” Rocket says defensively, “Earth is filled with weirdos.” He makes a hand motion to point out Peter and Legolas.

Aleanna’s eyes lock to Peter’s hand on his arm, “What happened here?” She pulls his hand away to reveal a wound on Peter’s arm. She sighs loudly and gently wraps her hand around the wound. Her magic flares and her hand glows whitish-silver. The skin begins to grow back over the wound. She opens her eyes when she finishes. “Good as new.”

Peter scratches his fingers across the unmarred skin. “Thank you, Ms. Aleanna.” Then he looks down at the skin in confusion, “It was really itchy when you did that.”

“I used magic to increase your body’s healing rate, the itching was the skin quickly knitting back together.” Aleanna turns to Groot. “Will you allow us to help you remove the arrow, to set things right?”

“I am groot,” Groot says cautiously.

Aleanna touches Loki on the arm. “I’m afraid I’m not very familiar with Groot physiology. Do you think you can safely remove the arrow?”

Loki steps closer to Groot and cautiously reaches down to touch the arrow. He closes his eyes and pulls magic around the arrow. It fades from existence. Groot rubs his hand on his leg, and mumbles to Loki, “I am groot.”

“You are very welcome.” Loki replies.

“When are the rest of the Guardians due to arrive?” Aleanna asks Rocket.

“Two hours and 53 minutes,” Tony cuts in from where he is standing in the doorway. “Give or take. Gentlemen,” he addresses Rocket and Groot. “Perhaps you would like to pick out some rooms for yourselves and the rest of your group?”

“Yeah, okay,” Rocket walks towards Tony. “Com'on Groot.”

Tony motions for Peter, “Come on Peter, you and the AI can come with. We’ve got work in the lab. I want to shift SpaCT to my lab instead of downstairs.” Peter and Legolas take a few steps towards Tony.

“AI?” Rocket appraises Legolas. “I can see the guy breathing.” He sniffs towards Legolas. “And I can definitely smell him too- sweat, leather, nothing overly inorganic.”

Aleanna frowns as she watches the group leave. “I’m going to need to secure the rest of my tech,” she says to no one in particular. “Could we work our way to my suite?”

*****

Thor, Loki and Aleanna walk together in silence for a moment. Aleanna gives Loki a questioning look. “You mentioned two reasons as to why you wanted me to go with you, please say the second one wasn’t ‘because it gave me the opportunity to irritate Tony,’” she says with a roll of her eyes.

Loki gives a large grin, “An unintentional gift, I assure you. No, the other reason was my brother.”

“Me?” Thor opens his mouth to say something else, but Loki ignores him and continues.

“I would very much desire for you to show my brother images of Chris Hemsworth.

“Images... of Chris Hemsworth?” Aleanna confirms.

“Yes, it would please me greatly” Loki says with a smile in his voice.

Aleanna meets his eyes. “Well, how can I refuse to do everything in my power to please the god of mischief,” Aleanna banters.

“Loki, why are you so insistent that I view images of this ‘Chris Hemsworth?’” Thor asks.

The group arrives at Aleanna’s door and she opens it and walks inside. “This will only take a moment.” Loki trails into the room behind her, watching. Aleanna raises a hand and each of the cubes around the room float swiftly into it. She tucks them all into her dimensional pocket and then pulls out a band and attaches it to her wrist. She touches the band lightly, “Illidan, change to stealth mode. Security level beta.”

“Engaged,” comes a disembodied voice. The band shimmers and disappears from view.

Loki reaches for Aleanna’s wrist and gently runs his fingers over the surface. He can barely make out the edges of the band. “Would you like to retire to the common space? I would prefer my brother not spend significant time in our sleeping quarters,” he murmurs softly.

Aleanna lips part, about to voice an objection, but she quickly closes them. She and Loki will have to discuss their sleeping arrangements later, when they can do so privately. She turns back to the hallway and they walk the short distance to the living room. Aleanna motions to the couch and Thor settles into it.

Loki stands off to the side, watching Thor with a look of anticipation on his face.

“You remember when I mentioned traveling the multiverse.” Aleanna begins and Thor nods, “There are several worlds in which Asgard does not exist.”

Thor scoffs.

Aleanna raises a hand and continues, “In those realities, an individual might have a different life.” She drops a cube to the coffee table and brings up an image. “Meet Chris Hemsworth.” The image shows Chris leaning his face close to a wall, a gigantic spider about a foot from his face. She brings up another image, this one of Chris at the beach wrangling his children. A third is Chris and Tom standing together in street clothes. Tom is smiling at the camera.

Thor’s face shifts to confusion, “Those are versions of myself in another reality?”

Aleanna shifts her eyes to Loki, ‘Perhaps we should watch Thor?”

“Watch me what?” Thor questions.

Loki sighs and rolls his eyes, “It is a movie, a reenactment of some of the events that happened in your recent life.” He addresses Aleanna, “Perhaps a clip from the movie? I do not think we have sufficient time to spend on the whole thing.”

Aleanna shifts through a series of screens and then opens a clip. The clip briefly shows Jane and Darcy in an RV driving towards and dust cloud in the desert. They spins and slams into a man. Thor stumbling to his feet, demanding to know what realm they are on, then raising his voice to shout for his hammer, Heimdall and his Father. The clips ends just after Darcy tasers him and he loses consciousness.

Loki’s eyes seem to glow with pure mischief. “I take it back. Surely we have time to watch the whole thing.”

Thor stands and walks around the frozen image of himself. He looks from Loki to Aleanna. “This is truly taken from a movie based on the story of my life?” he asks.

“It is,” Aleanna says quietly.

“So you are privy to a great many personal conversations between myself and my brother.” Thor asks. Aleanna nods slightly, wondering where the conversation is headed. Thor looks at Aleanna, then back at Loki, seeming torn.

Aleanna clears her throat, “I’ll give you two a few minutes. I’ll be in my room if you need something.” The image on the cube cuts out as she slips the cube back into her pocket and walks away.

Thor turns to face his brother, grasping his shoulders suddenly, “Brother, has Lady Aleanna enchanted you? You are not at all yourself. Had any individual in our past gained such insights into your personal life, you would have threatened them, made scathing comments against them.”

“Don’t be a fool. I assure you Brother, I am myself.” Loki says stiffly.

“But Loki, she-” Thor starts again

“She accepts me,” Loki hisses shaking off Thor’s hands. “She accepts me for who I am in my entirety. Jotun blood and all.” A wounded look flashes over Loki’s face for an instant before he wipes it away. “She died, however briefly, to save my life. There’s no magic power holding sway over me.” He murmurs, staring unseeing straight ahead. “If her acceptance of me also comes with her knowing some of my secrets, I consider it an even trade,” he finishes on a hoarse whisper.

Thor nods slowly and drops a comforting hand on Loki’s shoulder. “I am sorry to have doubted your lady’s intent.”

“She is not my lady,” Loki says sullenly.

“Now who is being a fool,” Thor says and grasps Loki’s forearm. “Brother, I have spent but a little time among the both of you, and even I can see that you are bonded to one another.”

Loki shifts and Thor releases his forearm, “We struck a bargain that enforced a certain amount of close contact. It built a false sense of intimacy. Lady Aleanna and I are friends, nothing more.”

Thor looks to Loki skeptically. “As you say, Brother,” he finally relents.


	52. Change is Good?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm really hoping I've got the pacing balanced on this. We're getting close to some more big events. :) 
> 
> Here's a longer chapter for you, dear readers. Thanks for all the Kudos and views!

#  _ Change is Good? _

Loki is walking towards Aleanna’s room when he suddenly hears the click of a pistol. “Loki.” Natasha is standing in the hallway pistol raised cautiously. Clint, Steve and Bucky are spread out behind her, carefully watching Loki. Clint has an arrow drawn in his bow. “What have you done with Aleanna?”

“I have done nothing with her,” Loki says on a sigh. “Lady Aleanna is in her room.” He motions to the closed door roughly halfway down the hall between the them.

Natasha leaves her gun trained on Loki and walks closer to the door. She reaches her knuckles up to the door.

“Agent Romanoff?” Loki’s voice causes Natasha to pause. “I should warn you that Lady Aleanna’s physical appearance differs from when you last saw her.” 

Natasha raises an eyebrow and shifts her eyes to the door and back to Loki. She keeps her eyes trained on his as she reaches out and taps on the door.

There’s a pause and Aleanna opens the door. “Yes, I- oh! Natasha, please refrain from shooting at Loki. Now that he has returned to his full potential, it will do nothing but leave us with a very grumpy god of mischief.”

There’s a beat of silence before Bucky speaks, “Holy fu-” 

“Language,” Steve cuts in. 

Bucky lets out a bark of laughter, “Peggy’s training stuck with you, huh?” He gleefully explains to the group, “Captain America didn’t interview so well when every other word from his mouth was vulgar. Peggy Carter worked for hours at a time with him to get him to stop swearing.”

Steve shifts uncomfortably and finally mumbles, “Thanks, Buck.”

Nat slowly lowers the gun and holsters it, shifting her eyes to Aleanna. She takes in the ears, sharper cheekbones, and changes to Aleanna’s hair in a split second. “Loki didn’t overstate it; you’ve changed. What happened?”

Aleanna walks over to Loki, he takes a few steps forward to meet her. She turns to face Nat. “I usually travel to realities in the form that will be most accepted, and generally don’t change from that form unless necessary.”

“What made it necessary?” Nat responds. 

“We had the opportunity to meet a member of her family,” Tony says from behind Clint.

Clint swings to face Tony, “Easy Legol-” Tony stops himself as he catches Aleanna’s smirk. Clint lowers the bow and returns the arrow to his quiver when he sees that it’s Tony. “I’m going to guess I forgot to mention that Aleanna and Loki managed to dissolve their bargain and that Loki has been allowed to roam free.” He wipes his hand across his face. “How was the school?”

Nat cuts off any answer from the others, “Can we go back to talking about the reason why Aleanna is drastically different from how she previously looked?”

There’s a loud sigh, the group turns to Aleanna and she speaks. “Short story- that adaptability I mentioned before? It caused my physical form to adapt to the people I was spending time with. That happened to be the elves of Middle Earth. I became increasingly elvish looking.”

There’s suddenly voices drifting to them,“-about food? Cause I’ve always wondered about that. Was it like all lembas bread and wine?” Peter and Legolas turn around the corner and stop when they see the group gathered in the hallway.

Legolas tilts his chin at the group. “Sister, are these also your... friends?” he says to Aleanna.

Natasha frowns in confusion, “How is it we have your ‘brother’ in our headquarters.”

“A better question would be how would Aleanna be related to Legolas?” Steve speaks up. The group looks at him in surprise. “What? The Lord of the Rings trilogy was one of the things people suggested I watch to catch up on things I missed while I was on ice,” he says defensively. 

“Legolas is an AI I built during my travels. The real Legolas is my brother in the sense that his father adopted me into their family. Sometimes when you are traveling through so many places it helps to have a familiar face,” she gives a fond smile to Legolas.

Natasha eyes snag on Loki’s bare neck for a moment before she looks back at Aleanna and asks, “Where is your dragon?”

“Sindle is sorting through his hoard.” Aleanna sees her confusion and continues, “Sindle has claimed the items in my pocket dimension as his hoard. He’s currently checking through things and shifting them around as it pleases him. When I get tossed about hard enough the impact manages to affect the items I carry in there as well. He should be done in time to join us for our evening meal. Speaking of which, Tony?” Aleanna calls and Tony looks to her. “I’ll cook something for the group this evening. I don’t get to cook often,” she explains and he nods.

*****

Aleanna walks towards the kitchen, Natasha trailing behind. Aleanna can just make out Peter’s voice and he starts in on another barrage of questions for Legolas. Aleanna walks between the fridge and the island, pulling various items out and setting them on the counter.

Nat shifts herself onto one of the stools across the island from Aleanna. “So, you’re basically an elf?”

“I’m a number of things,” Aleanna says without slowing her movements. She’s pulled out some pans now, and is rummaging through the spices. “But yes, my humanity slowly lost ground to the elvish influences that were around me for roughly a thousand years.”

Nat watches her quietly drift around the kitchen, “You even move differently. Did you know that?” Aleanna makes a non-committal noise and Nat continues, “You move much more fluidly, it looks almost alien.”

Aleanna sets a cutting board down with a little more force than necessary. “Is there a reason for all this chatter?” she asks carefully.

Nat meets her eyes, “You don’t like it do you?”

Aleanna shifts her eyes to the cutting board and starts slicing carrots. “Like what?”

“How elvish you’ve become,” Natasha says bluntly.

Aleanna’s movements still and she cuts her eyes back to Natasha, “I was becoming completely Sindar. No, I did not like it. Do you know what it’s like to adapt so readily to a culture that you instinctively know their ways and take them as your own? Do you know what it is like to live among a people so long that you lose sight of who you are, your own likes and dislikes? I was adored by my people, and I slowly began to loathe myself.” She pauses for a long moment, allowing Natasha to process what she’s said, then tilts her head slightly, “You can come out now Loki, I know you are there.”

There’s a burst of sandalwood and musk and Loki appears, leaning against the wall near the hallway. “My apologies, I came to find you and heard voices. I did not want to intrude.” 

Nat’s lips pull into a straight line, but she doesn’t comment on Loki’s eavesdropping. She stands from her spot at the counter, “I think I’ll catch up with Clint.” She walks from the room.

Aleanna looks at Loki for a long moment before she returns to chopping the vegetables. “How might I be of assistance?”

“Actually I thought I might be of assistance,” Loki says confidently. He motions a hand over an onion and it shifts to a bowl of chopped onions.

Aleanna freezes mid-chop. “I appreciate your willingness to lend your aid,” she says tentatively. “However, sometimes the joy is in the doing.” 

Loki quirks a brow. “You do not desire my help, I apologize.”

Aleanna holds her hand up to stall his words, “I never said I did not want your help.” She holds a green pepper and a knife out to Loki. “Would you do me the honor of spending the next hour cooking with me?”

Loki gives the green pepper a skeptical look. His eyes drift from it to Aleanna’s face and he sighs. “Very well.” He grasps both and begins chopping the pepper on the cutting board.

Aleanna fills a pot with water and sets it to boil. She begins to brown a pan of ground beef. “Not much cooking required of the god of mischief?” Aleanna says after a moment.

“On Asgard, when I was much younger, I need only to walk to the banquet hall, where the servants would have provided a worthy meal for all. As I got older, I was able to use my magic to bring me any food I could desire.” Loki responds.

“So you have  _ never  _ cooked for yourself?” Aleanna clarifies.

“I have not,” Loki answers with only slight sullenness in his voice.

“Then I am very honored to have provided you with a new experience,” there’s a smile tucked into Aleanna’s tone and Loki’s eyes shift quickly to her, brows furrowed.

Loki shifts his attention back to the last of the green pepper he’s chopping, then he shakes his head in exasperation. “I thank you very much for your generosity.”

“I wonder how far behind the Guardians the Asgardian refugees will be,” Aleanna says into the silence. She continues to dump ingredients into bowls and pans.

“I do not know. As can be expected, the ship was in fairly rough shape when Thanos removed my person from it.” Loki answers stiffly, his thoughts drifting back to the moments he longed for death on Thanos’s ship.

“Hey,” Aleanna rests her hand on his arm, stilling him. “Come back,” she says softly. “You’re a million miles away.”

Loki looks down at her hand then meets her eyes. “I apologize.” He rests his hand over the top of hers. They sit there for a long moment before Loki tries to steer the conversation to happier topics. “What is this we are making?”

“The vegetables are for fajitas and the ground beef is for sloppy joes. I’ll make a pasta salad, mix up some Kool-aid, open a couple bags of Doritos,” Aleanna trails off. She looks at Loki and realizes he probably has no idea what some of these things are. “Peter Quill was born on earth, and left at a very young age. I plan on providing a meal that he might appreciate. Typical Earth food has changed somewhat from the 80s.” She indicates the fajitas, “I’m providing alternatives for those who won’t appreciate a blast from Earth’s past.”

Aleanna mixes up batter for cheesecake, pours if over two pans of crust before sliding them into a double oven. She mixes the batter for brownies and slides two pans of it into the bottom oven. “Is there anything in particular I can add to the meal for you and your brother?” she asks Loki.

“Thor and I will be fine with whatever midgardian meal is made,” Loki replies.

*****

Aleanna shifts some of the pots and pans around, draining the pasta and dropping it into a big bowl. She murmurs a thank you to Loki as she adds the chopped vegetables to a pan, “Would you like to cook these?”

Loki gives the pan a dubious look before taking the bamboo spatula from Aleanna and pushing the vegetables around. Aleanna shifts from the spice rack to the stove, leaning around Loki’s shoulder to occasionally drop this or that one in the pan. She grins as she watches Loki. He continues to saute the veggies, lifting the pan and flipping the vegetables in the air and back into the pan.

Thor walks into the room and surveys them both. “You two are looking particularly domestic,” he says smugly. “The meal smells wonderful. Loki, I had no idea you were such a fantastic cook.”

“Loki is fast learner.” Aleanna comments, “He seems to excel and any skill he chooses to work at.” She meets Loki’s blue eyes. “I wonder what other skills you’ve kept hidden.” They stay focused on one another for a long moment, Thor all but invisible to them.

Thor clears his throat loudly and their eyes shift to him, “Ah, I came to let you know that Rocket’s crew has arrived at Earth. Stark is working on slipping them to us through Earth’s authorities undetected. He said something about  _ unnecessary legal tape _ . At any rate they should be landing here within half of an hour.”

“Thank you, Thor,” Aleanna murmurs. She touches her wrist and speaks, “Illidan, please inform Tony that the food should be ready when the Guardians arrive. If he’d be so kind as to bring everyone to the dining area upon arrival, it would be helpful.” There’s a chirp from her wrist, and she drops it back to her side.

Aleanna brings a couple more ingredients over to the island. She turns the fajita mix to a lower temperature and points to the cans and sauces sitting next to the stove. “Will you pour all these into the hamburger?” Loki sets the spatula on the counter and dumps the ingredients together.

Thor leans against the island standing opposite the two, watching. “So, how many worlds have you traveled to Lady Aleanna?”

Aleanna shifts her eyes to Thor and back to her work again, “Truthfully, I’ve lost count. I’ve traveled for over a thousand years. Some of the places started to run together.”

“Are you saying years from now you’ll have forgotten all about your time here?” Loki says, jaw rigid.

Aleanna’s movements slow. “I don’t know if I could ever forget my time here,” she answers honestly. “But, there was a time, when I was trying to get home- to my Earth, that I must have shifted through over a hundred very similar versions of Earth. The timelines of each laid so close together, it was only slight changes that made them different. A different president, a slight alteration in history. I gave up on traveling home for a time, and decided to shift to realities that included different worlds.”

“Why did you not tell us death was not a ...permanent condition for you,” Loki asks softly.

The question is met with a sigh. “My welcome in other worlds hasn’t always been warm. I actually had a Daoine Sidhe trick me, and they lay a powerful  _ geas  _ upon me, keeping me from telling anyone about my immortality.”

“How is it you were able to tell us your story?” Thor asks.

“Loki very bluntly announced that I had died. Suddenly the entire group was aware of my passing, and the  _ geas  _ was null. I could not, however, explain the events that happened on Titan to Steve or Natasha or anyone else not present at lunch.” Aleanna explains.

Aleanna turns off the burners and hands a large bowl of pasta salad to Thor. “Be useful. This needs to go to the buffet table.” Thor gives an amused look to Loki and takes the bowl into the other room.

Loki grabs Aleanna’s wrist to stall her, “Does doing things for  _ the joy of them _ also include physically bringing each dish that will be served to the banquet table?”

Aleanna looks at the dozen or so dishes that need to be brought in and a small smile curls to her face. “I would say it does not.”

Loki’s magic rises quickly, making each dish disappear and reappear on the buffet next to the dining table. He and Aleanna walk into the dining room to survey the space. Thor comes to stand by them. Aleanna’s magic rises as she settles it over the top of the food.

She meets Loki’s gaze, answering his unasked question, “Ah, the food will stay fresh, the hot dishes hot and the cold ones cold, until I release the magic.” Loki offers her his arm and they walk with Thor from the dining room.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had to add an explanation about Steve not swearing... :)


	53. Reunions

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Merry Christmas. Sorry for the delay. We always have a ton of Christmases (6 so far and a December wedding. Oi!)
> 
> Hopefully posting a nice long chapter makes up for the long wait!! :)

#  _ Reunions _

Thor, Loki and Aleanna walk together through the halls, in search of Legolas and Peter. Thor opens the door to the training room and the group is bombarded by laughter and shouting.

“What on Earth?” Aleanna mumbles as she walks into the room. Peter, Legolas, Clint, Natasha, Steve and Bucky are all gathered at the end of the room farthest from the archery range. Clint draws his bow back, adjusts for the length of the shot and looses an arrow. The shot flies the length of the room and hits the bullseye. Cheering and clapping follow.

Legolas takes aim at the target and the group at the door catches Clint’s eye, “Hey, Aleanna,” Legolas’s shot sinks into his bullseye as well. “Is the AI a fair representation of Legolas’ skill with a bow?”

The trio make their way to the others. Aleanna looks at the AI, “No, I’m afraid not.” 

Clint grins, “Told ya.” He looks to the others. “The guy shoots with computer precision.”

Aleanna gives a sheepish look, “He’s not an accurate representation because I altered his skill level so that I could surpass him.”

Clint blinks as he processes what she just said, “Wait, you’re saying that the real Legolas is  _ even better _ with a bow than,” he waves his hand in the direction of the AI, “than that?!”

“My brother would have been able to split the previous arrow straight down the center with his next shot from twice the length of this room.” She looks at the appalled look on Clint’s face and tries to console him. “Legolas  _ has  _ had well over a thousand years of practice. You are more talented than any other human I’ve seen shoot a bow… You are simply competing with an elf, and they are very keen of sight. It is not uncommon for an elf to be able to distinctly see an object over fifteen miles away.”

Clint frowns at Legolas. “And you’ve made this version of him- beatable?” He glances at Aleanna and back at Legolas. 

“Mmm hmm,” she replies. “I’ve bested him before.”

Clint gets a stubborn look on his face and draws a new arrow into his bow. He pulls it back, narrows his eyes in concentration and releases it. The arrow flies through the air and hits one of his previous arrows, breaking it. Legolas draws his bow back and releases another arrow, splitting his second arrow with a third. Clint releases another arrow, with the same result. Legolas gives a smug look and draws back another arrow. This one slides into his target right next to the previous shot. 

“Here,” Aleanna speaks up, “Your chance to best him.”

Clint blows a noisy breath out of his mouth then draws a final arrow, aims carefully and splits his previous arrow. He pumps his fist. “Yeah!” The group cheers and pats him on the back. Legolas tips his chin respectfully to Clint.

There’s a beep over the speakers on the training room and Stark comes on, “Everyone be advised that the rest of the Guardians will be landing in approximately fifteen minutes. If anyone plans to greet them, they should head to the hanger bay now.”

The Avengers, Aleanna and Loki all discuss for a moment before the entire crew leaves for the hanger bay.

*****

The bay doors open and the Guardians’ ship, the Benatar slips in. It touches down and comes to a halt, systems slowly powering down. There’s a hissing noise as the ship slowly changes pressure to match the air outside. A door opens on the side and Peter Quill stands there, mask on, pistol raised. “Come no closer,” he says in a deeper than usual voice.

“Oh for crying out loud, Peter.” Gamora pushes past him and walks over to the group. “I’m Gamora.” The crowd starts to work through introductions.

Quill touches the side of his mask and it opens to show his scowl, “Hey, we agreed that I would be first contact with these guys.” He huffs out a breath, holsters his pistol and walks off the ship.

Drax and Mantis trail out of the ship behind Quill. Rocket pushes through the group and comes to the front. “Hey, it’s about time you losers showed up! Groot-” he calls back to Groot. “Say hello.”

“I am Groot,” Groot mumbles as he stares at a handheld video game.

“Good to see you too, Buddy,” Quill says sarcastically.

Tony reaches forward and offers his hand to Mantis, “Tony Stark.”

Mantis smiles and takes his hand, her antennas starting to glow. “I am Mantis.” Her antennas droop and her smile falters. “How can you...  I-” tears start to build in her eyes. 

Aleanna swiftly moves forward, having built the necessary immunity to interact with the Guardians. She takes Mantis’s hand, freeing Tony from her grasp. “Mantis is an Empath,” she quickly explains and allows happiness to flow from within herself.

Mantis grins and gives Aleanna a dopey look. “Yay!”

Aleanna gives a kind smile and gently removes her hand from Mantis’s “Sorry, elves feel things quite strongly.”

Quill looks at Aleanna, “What did you do to her?”

“She’s high on a feeling?” Aleanna chuckles, then coughs and smooths the smile off her face when Quill continues to look at her hostilely. “Ah, she should be just fine in a few minutes.” She reaches over to rest a hand on Tony’s shoulder, “Tony’s already carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders, I didn’t think Mantis should have to share in that.”

Tony shifts uncomfortably. Drax looks at him with confusion, “How is it he can hold up a world? He is puny.” 

Rocket shakes his head, “Ah, Drax.” He looks to the group apologetically, “Drax comes from a people that have no concept of metaphors.”

Aleanna’s eyes flick from Quill to Gamora, “Mantis may not want to use her abilities to read the emotions of the group. She might not enjoy facing the internal demons most of them carry.”

Drax opens his mouth to question this and Rocket cuts him off, “Not now, Drax.”

Aleanna shifts her gaze to Loki and she smiles at him. He looks back stone-faced and she raises an eyebrow at him. He finally gives in to a half a smile. Aleanna ducks back through the crowd to where he is standing. “Not much for these types of things are you?” 

“I see no reason to needlessly build acquaintances,” he says softly.

Aleanna wraps an arm around his waist and leans into him, in a sort of half-hug, “Then I am very honored that you would take the time to learn something of who I am.” She tilts her chin back to look up into his eyes, a soft smile on her lips.

“Okay, people, let’s move this inside,” Tony calls to the group. ‘We’ve got food waiting and plans to work through.”

*****

The group walks into the dining room and Loki feels Aleanna drop the magic preserving the meal. They all load up their plates and cups.

Quill lifts one of the pitchers and sniffs it. “Is this Kool Aid?” he asks, trying not to sound too excited.

Aleanna nods to him, “Yes, tropical punch flavor.”

Quill pours a glass and hands it to Gamora. “This is the drink pretty much every Earth kid grows up drinking.”

Gamora sniffs the drink, takes a mouthful, then subtly spits it back into her glass when Quill isn’t looking. Aleanna points out the other options, “Arnie Palmer, red wine and water.” She slips the glass of Kool Aid from Gamora’s hand and uses magic to make it disappear.

Quill loads up a plate of food for Gamora and hands it to her. “You are going to love all of these. We used to eat this all the time when I was a kid.” Gamora takes the plate in one hand, glass of wine now in the other. Quill quickly loads another plate and glass of Kool Aid and then finds a seat at the table.

The rest of the group works their way through the food options at the buffet and everyone sits together at the table, save for Legolas, who is leaning against the wall. The room falls to silence as they dig into the food.

Quill points to him, “Why’s that dude not eating?”

“Legolas doesn’t eat. He is an AI,” Aleanna explains.

Quill snorts, “You named your AI after an old cartoon character?”

“You named a ship after Alyssa Milano, you’re hardly one to judge,” Aleanna responds.

A scowl forms on Quill’s face, “Now wait a minute, Milano is a great name for-”

“I am a memory of her brother,  _ he _ is my namesake,” Legolas cuts in, tone bland. 

“It’s actually a book series,” Natasha cuts in. “The Lord of the Rings, by J.R.R Tolkien.”

“In every way that matters, he could be considered Legolas from the tales by Tolkien,” Aleanna explains.

Quill looks skeptically at Legolas, “Whatever you say.”

Soft chatter builds around the table as the meal progresses. Aleanna feels a stirring at her waist and Sindle squirms out of her pocket dimension and climbs her shirt, claws sinking into the fabric. “Done sorting through your horde?” she asks with a smile. Sindle slips from her arm to the table next to her plate.

“Next, I suppose you’ll tell me that’s Smaug?” Quill asks.

Aleanna laughs, genuine amusement in the sound, “Smaug was a red dragon from Middle Earth. Sindle is a silver dragon, and he is from a place far from Middle Earth.” Aleanna offers Sindle some of the pasta from her plate, he tips his head and snaps up a piece. “Mmm, forgive me!” Aleanna turns to Quill and waves a hand in his direction then works her way down the line, “That is Peter Quill, that one is Gamora, she is Mantis. That one is Drax and those two are Rocket and Groot. They are called the Guardians of the Galaxy. Guardians, this is Sindle.” Sindle tips his head to them, stretching down into a regal bow.

“Nice to meet you Sindle the Silver Dragon,” Drax says. The others all mumble greetings after his.

Aleanna takes a bite of her cheesecake and licks her lips to catch a few stray crumbs. She meets Loki’s eyes and grins. “Do you like cheesecake?” she asks softly, in an attempt to keep their conversation semi-private.

“I’ve never had it,” Loki answers.

Aleanna cuts her fork through the cheesecake and holds up a bite, “Here, try some of mine.”

“No thank you, I couldn’t-” Loki’s protest is cut off by the bite of cheesecake invading his mouth. He chews automatically and raises an eyebrow. “That is quite good.” He looks to the plate of cheesecake with renewed interest. Aleanna smirks and takes a bite of cheesecake for herself. She offers him the next and he hesitates a moment before allowing her to feed him the bite.

Aleanna takes a final bite, then slides the remaining half of the cheesecake to Loki. “Please, enjoy.”

Loki looks about to protest, but Aleanna uses her magic to shift a small brownie to her plate and breaks off several pieces for Sindle. Sindle savagely attacks the brownie, making short work of his dessert. Aleanna takes the small piece that’s left and pops it into her mouth. She pushes her plate back and turns her attention to the conversations in the room.

“Hey, Tony I wanted to talk to you about this technology that they have at Professor X’s school,” Natasha speaks up. “They are able to simulate battles in a specialized room in their facility. They invited us back to train there anytime we’d like.”

“Tomorrow,” Aleanna cuts in. “We should go tomorrow,” she feels a wave of premonition as she says this, reinforcing the fact that tomorrow would be a good day to be at the school.

Tony’s face gets thoughtful and he nods, “Tomorrow should work. We can grab a Quinjet and transport everyone who’d like to come check it out.”

“I’ll have to come in slower than that,” Aleanna chimes in. “I would guess that there are at least one hundred mutants at the school.” She glances at Tony, “I will need time to adjust to so many new faces.”

“Right,” Tony frowns in thought, “What if we-”

“I will provide Lady Aleanna with transportation,” Loki cuts in, daring Tony to contradict him.

She smiles at Loki, “I would appreciate it.”

“Right, so we’ve planned our field trip for tomorrow,” Tony replies. “Let’s get down to business.”

“I think we should start with Gamora telling us what she can about Thanos,” Aleanna says.

“Child of Thanos,” Tony says suddenly, “That’s what you called her when you spoke on our very long-distance phone call.” He looks to Gamora with a frown, analyzing her.

Gamora looks around the room at the group, “I was just a child when Thanos came to my world. He divided the population of my world into two, one group would get to live and the other would die. He saw something in me that day and he took me with him to forge into a weapon. His only goal is to wipe out half the population of the universe. If Thanos gets all the infinity stones he can just snap his fingers and instantly slice the population in half.”

There’s a troubled silence as everyone digests this information. Aleanna clears her throat, “Any news from Shuri and Bruce? Has their research provided any clues to destroying the infinity stones?”

Tony blinks, eyes focusing once again, “Ah, Dr. Strange went to go check on them earlier today, I’m actually surprised he’s not back yet.”

Natasha speaks suddenly, “It may be prudent to require anyone in possession of a stone to have a traveling partner.”

“Wait, you guys have a stone here, on Earth?” Peter asks.

“We are forever playing catch up with everyone,” Tony quips. “We have the Time, Space, and Mind Stones on Earth. We know Thanos has the Power and Reality Stones. That leaves-”

“The Soul stone,” Gamora cuts in. 

“Telepaths,” Aleanna mumbles. The group turns to look at her as she stands up and begins fumbling in her pocket dimension. She sighs, “Sindle,” her voice is sharp and Sindle snaps his head up to look at her. They stare at one another for a moment before Sindle nods his chin and leaps to her stomach, then turns and wiggles into the pocket dimension. She glances up to the group, “Just one moment. Sindle moved everything, I sent him to retrieve something.”

Gamora frowns at Aleanna, “What about telepaths?”

Aleanna begins to explain as they wait, “As of this moment, you are the only one who knows the location of the Soul Stone,” Gamora begins to object and Aleanna holds a hand up to stall her. “You are the only one who knows the current location of the Soul Stone. I am aware of that fact, but have not delved into your mind to learn where that might be.” Loki reaches a hand to touch Gamora and Aleanna snatches it into her own before he moves more than a few inches. “Don’t you dare, god of mischief.”

Gamora gives Loki a curious look and Peter chimes in, “I’m a god.”

Loki pulls his hand away and gives a charming smile, “Just a bit of fun.”

Aleanna looks to Loki, then quotes, “ _ Two can keep a secret if one of them is dead. _ ” She shakes her head, “Let this be Gamora’s burden to bear.” She turns her focus to Quill, “Half celestial. Not quite the same thing.” Sindle shimmies from her pocket tail first, hind legs propped on her waistband as he pulls harder to shift a thin metal collar from the pocket dimension.”

Aleanna grabs Sindle around the waist and lifts him, collar and all, into the air. “This is a Psy-Static Generator. It blocks telepathic abilities.” She plucks the device gently from Sindle’s mouth and offers it to Gamora. She deposits Sindle onto her shoulder. Peter grabs the collar out of Aleanna’s hand before Gamora can.

“You expect me to just believe you and let you put some random device on Gamora. Do I look like an idiot?” Peter asks.

Rocket stands on his chair and snatches the device out of Peter’s hand, “You really want me to answer that Quill?” Rocket turns the device around, examining it. He tosses it back to Quill after a few minutes, “They use somethin’ similar in a few of the prisons I’ve seen, to keep telepaths from messing with the guards. It’s fine.”

Aleanna points to the device. “It’s been magically enchanted,” she explains. “Only the person who put the device on can remove it. It keeps a hostile individual from forcibly removing it to psychically attack someone. Tomorrow we’re headed to a school filled with humans whose DNA has altered to the point where they are have gifts outside what would be considered normal human abilities. Several possess telepathic abilities. I could also put a  _ geas _ on you, magically keeping you from being able to speak of the location of the Soul Stone.”

Gamora looks at the collar, then reaches for it. Quill holds it tight in his hands, “Wait. Let me put it on you.” Quill and Gamora lock eyes for a moment, then Gamora gives a single nod of her head. The breath rushes out of Quill as he slowly releases the catch on the collar and gently locks it around Gamora’s neck.

“Keep your magic  _ geas _ to yourself,” Gamora says and Aleanna closes her eyes and tips her head down in acceptance.

“Great more  _ magic _ ,” Tony says making air-quotes on the word magic. “How do we know if it works?”

Aleanna flicks her eyes to Mantis, “Empaths are blocked by the device as well.”

Mantis gets shakily to her feet and walks over to Gamora, swallowing uncomfortably as she holds her hand out to Gamora.

Gamora rolls her eyes and grabs Mantis’s hand in her own. “Relax. What do you feel?”

Mantis’s antennas glow and lift, “You feel-” she tips her head and looks into Gamora’s eyes. “I cannot tell what you feel.”

Quill snaps his fingers behind him still looking at Gamora, “Drax, try to take it off.”

Drax walks over to Gamora. “I can bend this weak metal with ease,” he says confidently. His fingers touch the surface of the collar and a bright light flares, Drax jerks his fingers back. “It burns.” He reaches for it again.

“I would not try a second time,” Aleanna cautions. “The magic becomes increasing punishing to those who are slow learners. I’ve never seen a mortal survive more than three attempts at removing the device.”

Quill holds his hand out to stall Drax. “That’s enough, thanks.”

“Great,” Nat says, “we’ve managed to secure a fourth stone, in a manner of speaking. How long do you think we have before Thanos comes to Earth, knowing we have the rest of the stones?”

Aleanna addresses Gamora, “How long would it take Thanos to recover from a stab wound?”

Gamora’s brows pull together, disbelief on her face, “Someone managed to stab Thanos?” she asks.

Thor answers her, “My brother wounded the Mad Titan, causing him to flee from Titan.”

Aleanna touches Loki’s arm, “Will you show them the blow to Thanos?”

Loki’s magic builds and an image of Titan is displayed in front of them. Aleanna is already laying on the ground. The scene shows Loki launching towards Thanos with a roar and the dagger that he sunk into the Mad Titan’s side. Thanos backhanding Loki and fleeing, his blood pouring from his wound. The scene fades away.

Gamora sinks into her seat, shaking her head, “I’ve never seen him wounded so badly.” She turns to the group, “Thanos has always been confident in his ability to defeat any foe. Receiving a wound like that would unsettle him. He will be much more cautious from here on out. He won’t underestimate you again. When he comes to Earth, he’ll bring an army.”

Natasha breaks the quiet, “So Loki bought us some time? Thanos won’t attack until he can raise an army?”

Gamora shakes her head, “Thanos might not come himself, but he adopted several beings as ‘Children of Thanos’ and many of those individuals will do anything in their power to impress him. If he told them to go to Earth and gather Infinity Stones, they will go to great lengths to acquire them.”

Tony glances at Gamora, “So, Thanos will not come until he is fully ready to attack, but his kids are headed our way again?” He pauses, “So Squidward and that meathead he had with him- they were Thanos’s kids?”

“The Black Order is not a group of kids, they are the most powerful beings that Thanos was able to bring to his side as he traveled. Many are skilled warriors and strategists,” Gamora explains.

“Well, Squidward is dead, we blew him off his ship halfway to Titan,” Tony says.

“Then three of the order remain, if we exclude my sister, Nebula. She hates Thanos as much as I do. I have lost track of her, but she will not aid him,” Gamora informs them. “The others, however... they will come to claim the stones.”

“So we train,” Natasha says, “We work together to learn each other’s strengths and build on those. We counter any invasion from members of the Black Order and we make our battle plan for the main attack from Thanos.” She looks around at the group, “That about cover it?”

Aleanna shifts her eyes to an empty corner of the room, seconds later a glowing circle appears, Dr. Strange walking through it, eyes down to step over the edge of the magic portal. He raises his eyes and looks at the group. “Sorry I’m late. Did I miss anything important?” The portal fades in a shower of sparks behind him.

Aleanna uses a flare of magic to make a plate of food and a glass of wine appear at the empty seat at the end of the table. She points out the seat to Dr. Strange. He nods his thanks and walks over to the chair, his cloak floating from his shoulders and stand by the wall, leaning against it.

Quill opens his mouth, confusion clear on his face, “Is that cape alive?”

Dr. Strange looks up from his plate, swallowing his bite of food, “That,” he tips his head to indicate his cloak, “is the Cloak of Levitation. It is sentient.” He turns his attention back to the plate in front of him.

Rocket mumbles, “I’ll say it again, Earth is filled with weirdos.”

Quill looks like he’s about to ask something else, but Aleanna raises her hand to stall him. Tony leans over and tells Dr. Strange a quick summary of what he’s missed. Aleanna turns and speaks softly to Quill, “Dr. Strange is a Master of the Mystic Arts.” At Quill’s confused look she explains, “Essentially, he is a wizard, a sorcerer.”

“Things got really freaking weird on Earth after I left,” Quill complains.

Aleanna shrugs, “Things have been weird for centuries. You’re just aware of the weird now.”

There’s quiet chatter for a while as everyone waits for Dr. Strange to finish his meal. Finally he pushes back his plate.

“What news from the library at Kamar-Taj,” Aleanna asks.

Dr. Strange frowns and shakes his head, “My order has been in possession of the Time Stone for a very long time, but our knowledge seems limited to its potential uses.”

Aleanna bows her head, a sigh gusting from her before she speaks to the group in a low voice, “I feel I must disclose that Scarlet Witch- Wanda- can most likely destroy the Mind Stone.” She raises her head to meet the eyes of each of the Avengers.

“Great,” Quill is nodding his head. “Let’s do that. Destroy the Mind Stone and Thanos can’t get all of them.” He looks at the Avengers in confusion, “It’s a good plan, why aren’t we jumping on this plan?”

Natasha is the one to explain. “The Mind Stone is currently a part of a being call The Vision. He was brought to life with the aid of the stone.”

“So destroying the stone would undoubtedly kill Vision,” Tony chimes in. “Wanda might take exception to that considering she and Vision are currently knocking boots.”

Quill looks like he is about to argue again when Aleanna speaks. “Killing Gamora would also achieve the same thing,” she meets his eyes. “Thanos needs her to gain the Soul Stone.”

“That’s not happening,” Quill says hostilely. “I wouldn’t let that happen.”

“I would,” Gamora cuts in. She brings her hand up to Quill’s cheek. “If I have to die to save the lives of half the universe, I will make that sacrifice.” She glances around the room.

“ _ Neither _ is a viable option,” Tony says, “We have two last resort choices. We need to find something else we can realistically use to defeat Thanos.”

The group discusses possible battle strategies for another hour. Aleanna stifles a yawn and Loki catches the movement. He leans over to speak softly to her, “You are exhausted.”

Aleanna gives him a tired smile. “I am.”

Loki stands and offers her his hand. Aleanna takes it in her own and stands as well. She glances around at all the dishes and her magic flares. The plates and food all disappear. “The leftovers are in the fridge,” she says, addressing the group. “Loki and I must excuse ourselves.”

There’s a chorus of good nights and they walk out of the room. Aleanna’s eye catches on the mess they left in the kitchen. Her magic begins to rise again. Loki touches her arm, “Please allow me.” There’s a flash of green light and the smell of sandalwood lingers in the air of the now spotless kitchen.

“Thank you,” Aleanna looks into Loki’s eyes, a soft smile on her face. Loki slowly runs his knuckle lightly down her cheek then leads her down the hall to her room.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Splitting the teams for the first Infinity War movie makes a lot of sense. Writing chapters like this and pulling out bits of conversation to build the characters is hard. So many strong personalities, I suspect that in a real life situation these guys would be arguing and talking over one another so much more.


	54. Aniron

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aniron = "I desire" in elfish...
> 
> I want to say thank you to MeganMcgav for the kind words! I hope that the story continues to live up to expectations.
> 
> Thanks for all the kudos and bookmarks- and for nearly 500 views on this! Dear Readers, you guys are the best!

#  _Aniron_

As Loki gently pulls Aleanna into her suite, Sindle jumps from her shoulder and flies to the end of the bed, curling in a tight ball. Aleanna closes the door behind them and turns to speak to Loki, surprised to find him directly behind her. “Oh,” Aleanna says, so startled that nothing else coming to mind. Her eyes shift to silver as they meet his.

He closes the distance between them, brings his hands up to her cheeks and lowers his lips to meet hers in a soft kiss. Aleanna’s hands come to rest on Loki’s chest in an attempt to steady herself. She returns the kiss, humming at the wonderful feel of it. Loki increases the pressure of his lips and deepens the kiss. He becomes aware of moisture soaking into his hands. He pulls his lips slowly from Aleanna’s and opens his eyes, her eyes slowly flutter open to meet his.

He looks in confusion as another pair of tears track down her cheeks to his hands. A quick huff of exasperation leaves him as he forces a smile to his lips, “Not really the response one aspires to receive when making ardurous advances towards a lady.” his eyes scan her face, looking for some sign as to why she’s crying.

Aleanna rests her forehead against Loki’s shoulder a moment, willing the tears to stop. She pulls her head back and looks at Loki, eyes now blue and sparkling with tears, “It is not real.”

Loki shakes his head, trying to indicate that he doesn’t understand, unable to form the words.

“I am Lady Aleanna Thranduilion, beloved Princess of the Woodland Realm,” Aleanna begins.

“This, I know already,” confusion crosses Loki’s face. “Why does it-”

Aleanna cuts him off to explain, “I am elvish, and I am beloved; it is one’s impulse to cherish me. Part of my adaptive nature made me venerable enough to draw on protective tendencies, yet resilient enough to build admiration or attraction in others. I…” Aleanna trails off.

Loki narrows his eyes at her words. “You believe now that you look like a elf that I am somehow… bewitched by you?” Loki questions.

“Do not underestimate the subtle magics of the Sindar.” Aleanna shifts to the side and walks around him to stand in the middle of the room.

“You believe your magic can draw me to you, against my will?” Loki reaches down to grab her wrist, willing her to turn and look at him.

Aleanna turns slightly to look back at him, then drops her eyes back to the floor, “It tends to fix itself upon that which I very much desire.” Aleanna feels a wave of satisfaction roll off of Loki at her admission.

Loki catches her chin and tips it up until she is looking him, “Your magic does not hold sway over me.” He leans down and gives her another soft kiss on the lips, “I give you this night. I will leave you to your thoughts. Rest and sort your feelings.” He runs his thumb over her lips. “Know that our conversation is far from over.”

Loki’s magic rises and Aleanna’s sketchbook appears in his hand. He holds it out to her and she takes it in her hands. “You will need this if you are to draw more sketches of your favorite trickster god.” He walks over to the door and stops, “If you have need of me, I will come for you.”

“Loki,” Aleanna calls, setting the sketchbook down and stepping over to him. She reaches into her pocket dimension and pulls out four leather bound books. “Please feel free to read these. The events in them will have happened after I left.”

Loki lifts the top volume, “The Hobbit?”

“And the Lord of the Rings Trilogy,” Aleanna says as Loki takes the rest of the books. “Perhaps you will learn a little about the world that so greatly influenced my immortal self. The chapters talking of Mirkwood or the Elfking are references to my home and father.”

“And what of you life as a human?” Loki softly asks, “How would I come to know your mortal self better?”

Aleanna’s eyes lower to hide the pain, “My human life was forged by death.” She forces herself to meet Loki’s eyes. “You’ve known death.”

Loki looks about to say something else, but gives a single nod of his head and walks from the room.

*****

Aleanna lay sketching for several hours after that, thoughts having been in too much turmoil for sleep to claim her. She yawns and sets the charcoal pencil down in the crack in the center of the sketchbook. She pushes the book forward, laying down on her stomach, head resting on her crossed arms. Her eyes close in a slow blink and she drops off to sleep.

*****

Loki finishes the last page of The Hobbit and closes it. He touches the spines of the other three books, deep in thought. Finally he magics all four books away for safekeeping. The night has grown late, and he is tired. Impulsively he reaches out to Aleanna’s mind, wondering if she sleeps or if she’s still awake. His consciousness drifts to her room, then is suddenly pulled into her mind.

*****

Loki appears in a small clearing. There is a small house, something more like a cottage, standing in front of him. He walks to the door and pushes gently. The door swings in on silent hinges and Loki sees a child sitting at the table with their back to the door. The child, a girl with a riot of blonde curls on her head, is humming softly and working at something in front of her. Loki walks slowly to the table and looks at the girl’s profile. She is coloring a picture. He thinks this must be Aleanna when she was a child, for she looks just like her. The walls shimmer slightly as Loki glances around the room. Dreams tend to distort when you try to focus overly much on extraneous details, so he drops his eyes back to the child.

“Hello,” He says softly. “I am Loki.”

The little girl looks up and eyes a brilliant shade of purple meet his own. “Yes, you are,” she replies then goes back to her coloring.

Loki is startled by the odd coloring of her eyes, but understands that dreams twist and turn things. “Little Aleanna, what are you coloring?”

“Little Aleanna,” The girl pauses and tilts her head, thoughtful “Yes, I suppose I am Little Aleanna.”

He tries again, “And what else might I call you?”

The child pauses in her coloring and lifts her eyes to his once again, staring at him a long moment, “You might call me _inion_.”

“Inion,”Loki repeats. “That sounds beautiful. Is there a grown Aleanna around here someplace?” His gaze drifts around the room, then rests on the child again.

She stands pushing her chair back, “She is with papa.” A small hand raises to Loki and he grasps it in his own. She leads him to a door in the back of the cottage.

The door opens and Loki is assaulted by a cacophony of shouts. Sweat permeates the air. An octagon is barely visible in the center of the room, through the crowd. “And the challenger, Killian ‘The Killer’ Ooooooo’Daaaae,” a voice shouts over the loudspeaker. Loki attempts to shift closer to the ring and barely can make out the form of Aleanna, standing ringside for her father. He hits his opponent hard and a splatter of blood streaks across Aleanna’s face. She stands there unmoving.

“Papa was a very fierce fighter. He earned the nickname _Salin_ when he trained in Korea,” comes a small voice next to him.

Loki frowns, Allspeak not functioning in this dream-world. “What does _Salin_ mean?” He looks to the little one again.

She blinks innocently up at Loki, “Death.”

“We should go to her,” Loki motions to the ring. He looks up to where she should be, but the ring, the crowd, and Aleanna are gone. He frowns, then feels a tug on his sleeve.

“She went home,” the girl explains, pointing to a house now off to their left. She takes his hand in hers once again.

They turn and walk to the door, which is standing open, Loki pulls them to a stop, the coppery scent of blood thick in the air. “This is no place for a child to tread,” Loki murmurs softly.

“It is not,” she agrees. The child raises her head to look in the opposite direction, “Nana calls me.” She slips her hand from Loki’s. “It was a pleasure to spend time with you.” She lifts one hand to her chest, the other palm up to the side, and bobs her head to him. Loki recognizes it as the show of respect that Aleanna frequently uses when greeting others. She runs behind him and as he turns to reply, he sees she is gone.

Loki turns back to the doorway, thankful that it still stands in front of him. He walks through the house and comes to a halt in front of a table, Aleanna is standing on the other side, between them are three bodies and a surreal amount of blood. He glances down at the floor, two inches of blood covering the tiles, soaking his boots.

“Death, always death,” Aleanna says softly.

Loki’s head jerks up and he sees her dart down the hallway. He splashes through the blood, hurrying to catch up. He reaches a door just as it closes, and turns the knob, opening it and pushing through. Loki is in an apartment, _the apartment_ , that she died in. He looks to the center of the room and sees a very human Aleanna looking around. Lucian steps behind her and sinks his teeth into her neck. She flails and scratches at him, scoring his face with her nails, but not having much effect otherwise.

Loki steps forward to stop Lucian. A hand on his arm stills him. “You cannot stop it. It is what happened that night,” says a familiar voice. Loki looks up to meet Aleanna’s eyes. She looks how he’s come to recognize her, elvish cheekbones and ears prominently displayed. “Death came for me.”

“It seems cruel to let you suffer,” Loki finally says and turns to look at the scene. Lucian has ripped his teeth savagely into his own wrist and is shakily trying to get drips of blood to go down Aleanna’s throat. Aleanna says nothing and Loki turns his eyes to hers for a moment. She is looking at the scene, so he turns to look at it as well. Adam is standing in the door, sword raised and stance aggressive. He has Aleanna in a bridal carry, her knees tucked over his swordhand.

“We must go with them,” Aleanna suddenly speaks, pulling Loki’s eyes from the door. He shifts them back to the room and discovers that the room has changed. Aleanna pulls them closer to the form in the bed. Adam is standing next to the bed, bottle of beer in hand. A very human-looking Aleanna is laying on the bed. Her chest is still. After a moment she takes a gasping breath, hands tearing ineffectual at the comforter she’s lying upon.

“Relax, remember how to breathe,” Adam tells the her. He shakes his head and sets the beer heavily on the nightstand. “MacLeod is going to kill me,” he mutters under his breath.

Aleanna’s breathing evens out and her hand shoots to her neck. There’s only unmarred skin. “What happened?”

“The vampire killed you,” Adam says. “I should go back and slaughter the beast.”

Adam turns, intent on following through, but Aleanna sits up suddenly and catches his arm. “Please, don’t kill him, not for me. I would not have you kill for me,” She says softly. 

Loki looks at the scene in confusion. He opens his mouth to speak but feels Aleanna soft fingers on his lips. “Wait,” she breathes.

Adam grabs Aleanna’s upper arm with his free hand and hauls her from the bed, “You must become accustomed to death, little one. You are immortal now, locked in an endless game where the prize is survival. Taking someone’s head will ensure that you keep your own.” Anger taints his voice, making it clipped and harsh.

Aleanna shakes her head and mumbles, “I can’t. I -I don’t want-”

“You WILL, if you value your life.” Adam continues, cutting her off. “I, myself am over five thousand years old. Adam is the name that I took in an attempt to segregate myself from The Game. Before that, I was known as Methos. In another lifetime I was one of the Four Horsemen. I was Death. I did not kill fifty, or a hundred. I killed thousands, ten thousand even. I was good at it, _enjoyed_ it. I was Death and all the known world feared me.” His voice, which started as a soft whisper, raised until he is shouting angrily at her.

There is a pause, then he speaks in a hushed voice, it trembling with anger, “Get over any delusion that life can remain as it was. You must adapt, you must _kill_ , or you will die, permanently this time.” He shoves her and she falls back onto the bed, tears breaking free of her eyes. He walks from the room.

Loki glances from the girl crying silently on the bed, to the one standing next to him. She speaks in a low voice to him, “Once again, Death struck its hammer against my being, forging me, changing me,” she looks up to him, challenging look on her face. “How many people can say that they know Death so intimately? I slept with him, after all.”

With a shake of his head Loki speaks, “He was just a man, as any other. Skilled in killing, but not death, never that. Your life as a human may have been riddled with times when death seemed to be tapping at the door begging your notice, but that does not mean you need to allow it to define you.”

Aleanna looks past Loki, at the darkness now drifting in around them.

Loki brings his hand to her cheek, “Stay. With me.” He stares into her eyes a long moment.

“Death is drawn to me, it stalks me still,” she whispers hoarsely. The darkness builds, pulling in on all sides.

“I would shield you from it,” Loki says fiercely, “if you were mine to protect.” He opens his arms to her, “Say that you are mine.”

Aleanna hesitates only a moment before she steps into his arms; he wraps them tightly around her. “I am yours. Always.” They both close their eyes tightly, clinging to one another, basking in the feeling of holding each other.

*****

The sun is barely peeking through the curtains when Aleanna cracks open an eye. She tries to shift and it met with resistance.

“Cease your wiggling,” Loki mumbles into her hair. He breathes deeply, then sighs in contentment.

Aleanna’s mind slowly catches up to the situation, she remembers the dream of her human life, and of death. She remembers stepping into Loki’s arms, submitting to his protection. “What happened to giving me a night to contemplate?” Aleanna asks in a voice that is somehow both humoured and exasperated.

Loki tucks her tighter against his body, “I did. You made your decision early this morning.” Aleanna feels a wave of smugness roll from him a moment before he speaks again. “Might I say, I thoroughly approve of that decision,” the smugness is just as evident in his tone and Aleanna struggles not to smile at how ridiculously pleased he sounds with himself.

“And how did you come to be in my bed?” Aleanna presses. “As I recall, you left before I went to sleep.”

There’s a heavy sigh from Loki. “We are not going back to sleep are we?” He pauses then responds to her question. “Thor’s room is next door,” Loki says quietly. “I planned on sleeping there. I used my magic to check to see if you were sleeping peacefully. I got pulled into your dream. The dream ended in our embrace. When I woke, I am pleased to say you were still wrapped in my arms.”

Aleanna wiggles until Loki’s grip loosens enough for her to shift to her side to look at him, “And what of the pull of my elvish nature?”

“My dear girl, do you really think something so trivial could be what captures me? I was attracted to you while you were, in every sense, human.” There’s a smile in his voice as he continues, “Why do you think I called you Witch?” He pauses then admits, “I found you bewitching, absolutely beautiful.” A smile forms suddenly on her lips, and Loki returns it with one of his own, “What is it?”

“My name, Aleanna, means beautiful, dear child,” Aleanna admits. She snuggles closer until her head rests on Loki’s shoulder.

Loki’s mind drifts to the child in the dream they shared, “Have you ever been called Inion? Have you any knowledge of what that name means?”

“It doesn’t sound familiar. It really doesn’t sound much like a name at all. Are you sure that’s how you pronounce it? _Inion_?” Aleanna asks.

Loki grows quiet for a moment, then quickly responds, “Perhaps I was mistaken. Nevermind. It is nothing of importance.” He wraps her tighter in his arms, fingers working through her long hair.

Aleanna felt a moment of shock from Loki when she had asked about the pronunciation of the name he was asking about, but it just as quickly faded from him. She relaxes into him as he combs his fingers through her hair.

“I finished The Hobbit last night. It reads very much like a children’s story,” Loki comments in an attempt to distract them both.

“Mmm,” Aleanna murmurs, “The story goes that man who authored the book did so because he got tired of trying to remember all the details of the story he was telling his son at night. The son questioned the little changes and he got fed up enough to write the entire story out. Happily, he chose to share it with his world. You will find the tone of The Lord of the Rings Trilogy differs very much.”

Loki allows Aleanna to talk about the books for a moment, responding half heartedly as he thinks through what he can remember of the dream; of the child. The one that looked so much like Aleanna, but for her eyes. He had assumed that she was Aleanna, so much so that he called her “Little Aleanna.” The one that who said that he might call her “inion.” A word that was not a name, but something else entirely. In the moment that Aleanna said the word, Allspeak provided a translation for it; _daughter_.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Smug/content Loki when she wakes up makes me smile so big. :)


	55. Chapter 55

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I apologize for the delay in getting this chapter out- hopefully another chapter for everyone later today or tomorrow.
> 
> I'm happy to report that I've completed this fic! (Word count= 107,000+ so hang in there until the end- it is worth it!) There's an official final chapter and epilogue! Yay!
> 
> I've started writing the second story in the trilogy (This book ends in a solid resolution of the conflict in it- I have serious issues with cliffhanger books/books that only contain half of a story). I'm also about half way through a one-off that is not cannon for Aleanna's storyline.

#  _ The Campus Visit _

Aleanna stretches and turns over, “Mmm, I fell back asleep.”

“Yes, and drooled all over my shoulder,” Loki responds in a teasing voice.

Aleanna sits up and starts to protest. She pauses before the first syllable can come from her mouth. Loki is leaning against a pile of pillows, her sketchbook once again in his hands. His chest is bare and she swallows as her eyes track his lean, toned figure. A touch of sandalwood and the sketchbook is once again magic’d away into Loki’s possession. His eyes shift to her. “I am afraid I had to rid myself of my soggy shirt.”

Aleanna’s mind slowly catches up with what he’s said and she struggles to form a coherent sentence. “I hardly think that that was the best solution,” she murmurs, closing her eyes. She lets her head drop back to the bed, her body suddenly feeling boneless.

Loki leans over Aleanna, placing an arm on either side of her head on the mattress, “I would say, it was an excellent solution.” his lips dip down to touch hers when suddenly there’s a hard knocking on the door.

Aleanna closes her eyes for a moment, then quickly kisses the corner of Loki’s mouth, “Sorry to disappoint,” she says softly to him, then she winnows from under him to stand next to the bed, magic flows softly and she is in clothes, rather than pajamas. “Coming,” she calls as she walks to the door.

She can just make out Loki mumbling  _ Yes, but unfortunately I’m not, _ before she gets to the door. There’s a slight scent of sandalwood and a glance shows that Loki no longer occupies her bed. She schools her face before she pulls open the door to see Thor standing there. “Good morning,” she greets him.

“Lady Aleanna,” Thor greets her cheerfully, “I am sorry to bother you, have you seen my brother?”

Aleanna glances around for a moment, giving herself time to word an answer, then looks to Thor again, “Loki? I am sure he’s around here someplace.”

“If you see him, will you please tell him that I plan on escorting the Quinjet that is being taken to Xavier’s School this morning,” Thor asks.

“I would be happy to relay the message, should I see him,” Aleanna replies.

Thor gives a nod of thanks and leaves. Aleanna is about to turn to go back in her room when she notices Legolas standing on the other side of the door, “Have you been standing here all night?”

Legolas blinks at her, “Of course, Sister. I would be remiss if I didn’t protect you from harm while you rested.”

“I am fully rested. Please go find Peter or Tony and see if you can be of use to either of them,” Aleanna replies.

Aleanna closes the door softly and cool sandalwood and musk envelop her. “You heard what your brother said, right?” she turns to face Loki, both relieved and disappointed that he’s now fully dressed.

Loki nods, then looks at her clothing, “Whatever are you wearing?” Loki asks brows drawn together in confusion.

Aleanna glances down at her clothes having let the magic swell so quickly when she dressed that she really didn’t pay that much attention to what it clothed her in, “A short-sleeve compression shirt and yoga pants?”

Loki steps forward and touches his finger to the star on her chest.

Aleanna’s mind catches up with his question, “Ah, it’s meant to look like Captain America’s uniform,” she lifts her hair and turns slightly, “There’s a shield printed on the back, which is kind of cute if y-,” Aleanna stumbles to a stops, as she suddenly feels a wave of jealousy drift from Loki. He grasps the nape of her neck and drops a demanding kiss on her lips. She leans in to him, the kiss dizzying. She lets her magic flow from her. When she steps back she’s wearing a t-shirt that has “Loki’s Army” across the chest in large print. “Better?”

“Better,” Loki concurs, slightly mollified.

Aleanna has taken several steps before she realizes that Loki has not moved. She turns to face him once again. “Something else wrong?” she asks in exasperation.

Loki closes the distance between them and rests his hands on her waist. He pulls her to him, enjoying the feel of her body against his, “Yes, these  _ yoga pants _ ,” he carefully enunciates the unfamiliar phrase, “should be prohibited. How can any man hope to concentrate with you wearing them?” His hands drift, seemingly without his consent, to grasp her butt. His lips drop towards her mouth once more.

Aleanna pulls magic from inside her once again and shifts the yoga pants to a pair of bootcut jeans. She slips from Loki’s grasp before he can kiss her again, “We’re going to be late, if we don’t leave now.”

There’s a wave of frustration from Loki before he replies, “I would not count that as a bad thing.”

Aleanna chuckles and opens the door to the room. “Come on, Troublemaker,” she says fondly.

*****

The dining room is packed when Aleanna and Loki walk in. Thor looks up from his bowl of cereal and smiles, “Brother,” he swallows his mouthful of cereal and continues, “Lady Aleanna, it is good to see you both.”

“Thor, nice to see you again,” Aleanna replies. 

Loki walks over to his brother to talk for a moment and Aleanna grabs and bowl and spoon from the sideboard. She reaches for a box of cereal when a hand grasps her arm, giving her a slight jerk. “Your shirt is ridiculously inappropriate,” Tony hisses under his breath.

Aleanna drops her gaze to the words  _ Loki’s Army _ then back to Tony’s face. She grabs the hand on her arm and easily removed it from her person, then releases it. “I would argue that it’s incredibly accurate.” She catches sight of Loki moving swiftly towards them and spins around Tony so she’s between him and Loki.

Loki halts his advance an inch from her. “I should tear his arm off for touching you in such a manner,” he says in a low angry voice.

“He has taken exception to my shirt,” Aleanna explains. “I guess it’s still too soon for the general population of Earth.”

Loki’s magic flares and Aleanna is dressed in an elaborate, flowing Asgardian dress. She looks down at the dress and back up at Loki, crossing her arms. “I feel like I should scold you for playing dress up with my person.”

“I quite like it,” Loki murmurs as he examines her from head to toe, completely ignoring Tony. He takes her fingertips gently in his hand and leads her to the table, pulling a chair from it, and helping her settle into it. A bowl of cereal appears in front of her, the scent of sandalwood faintly accompanying it.

Loki settles into the seat next to Aleanna’s and uses his magic to produce a bowl of cereal for himself. Thor speaks from across the table, “We are planning on launching the Quinjet shortly, Natasha has contacted the school to let them know that you will be arriving in advance of us, and that you will be approaching slowly.”

Aleanna nods her understanding, having just taken a bite of her cereal, and not wanting to talk with her mouth full.

Loki smirks at her then turns his attention to Thor, “Thank you, Brother.”

Gamora and Peter Quill walk into the dining room. Soon Quill is excitedly trying to get Gamora to try either Coco Puffs or Captain Crunch.

Aleanna finishes the last of her cereal and scans the room, “Hey Tony, have you seen Legolas?”

“I sent him to wake up Peter, the kid had a late night, but we’ve got to get going soon,” Tony replies. 

“Shall we?” Loki has his hand out to Aleanna.

She pushes her chair back and takes Loki’s hand. “We will see you at the school,” Aleanna says to Tony.

Loki wraps Aleanna tightly in his arms, then teleports them from the room.

*****

They land at the edge of the school grounds, Aleanna still wrapped tightly in Loki’s arms. He loosens his grip and looks down at her. Aleanna breathes deeply of the smell of Loki’s magic, her nose tucked in the hollow of his throat. “Umm,” he begins awkwardly, “We have arrived.”

Aleanna takes a reluctant step backwards and smiles up at Loki, “Sorry, I’m not looking forward to fighting against all the mutations I’ll be facing today.”

“We could go back to-” Loki begins.

“No,” Aleanna cuts him off quickly, “It’s best to get this over with. We cannot rule out the possibility that we may need to come here to defend the Mind Stone later on.”

Loki gives a nod and waits for Aleanna, “Whenever you are ready, I shall be here.”

Aleanna takes a tentative step forward, “Speaking of minds, you are able to shield yours from the students and staff here, are you not?”

Loki’s shoulders pull back and the tiniest bit of irritation filters through his emotions, “Of course. I’ve been shielding my mind for centuries.”

“May I?” Aleanna asks, motioning to indicate she’d like to check his shielding.

“If you must,” Loki finally says.

Aleanna gently reaches out with her mind and runs her magic against the doors to Loki’s private thoughts. She pushes, attempting to sneak in, but finds no entry to them. “Formidable.” She takes a step forward, then looks down at Loki’s hand on her arm, halting her, “Yes?”

“Will you allow me to do the same? Check your mental defenses?” Loki asks.

“By all means,” Aleanna answers softly.

Loki reaches to her mind and is bombarded with her thoughts; on the beauty of the sky, on his strong arms when he held her, on how interesting his choice of dress for her was…

“Ah, are you ready to begin?” Loki asks after a moment, “I was able to read your thoughts quite easily.

Aleanna smiles knowingly at him, “Yes, you did. You learned nothing of consequence however.”

Loki frowns and delves into her mind again, getting hung up on her surface thoughts for a moment before pushing past them, deeper into her mind.  _ Very nicely done _ , she thinks. Loki focuses deeper and finds a sphere tucked into the corner of her mind. He brushes against it with his mind, slipping against the smooth surface. He pulls from her mind an instant later. “I have never come across that way of shielding before,” he admits.

“Satisfied?”  Aleanna asks.

“Satisfaction is not in my nature,” Loki responds automatically.

Aleanna reaches up and drops a kiss on Loki’s cheek. “It could be,” she says coyly. With that she shifts to face the school again and begins walking towards it. She stops for a moment and closes her eyes, immunities building for the first wave of mutants she feels. Loki takes her hand in his in support. Her eyes flick to his, thanks in them, and she takes another few steps forward. She suddenly squeezes his hand and stumbles against him.

“Aleanna?” Loki questions. “What is wrong?”

She steadies herself, straightens and then shakes her head, “Sorry, classes let out, the students moved quickly in and out of my range. I am,” she pauses, “I am fine now.” She takes another couple steps forward. 

“Are you sure it wouldn't be easier to just absorb their powers, rather than fight it?” Loki asks sceptically.

“Quite sure,” Aleanna says, gritting her teeth as she takes several more steps forward. She comes to a stop and sighs in relief. “There, I believe that covers the whole school.” They are standing just outside the front doors of the school now.

The door opens after a moment and Scott Summers walks out, “Aleanna? Natasha said you had changed in appearance, but that was quite the understatement.”

He offers his hand and she takes it to shake, “Nice to see you again, Scott.” She motions to Loki. “This is Loki.”

“Yes, I know, he’s kind of famous, or should I say infamous, on Earth,” Scott offers his hand to Loki and after a long moment Loki takes it and shakes it. “As I understand it, that’s all in his past though. We’re big on second chances at the school here.” He pushes the door open again and motions for them to walk inside. “How long until the rest of your group comes?”

“The Quinjet should be landing in about twenty minutes,” Aleanna guesstimates.

Aleanna and Loki walk into the building and Scott motions for them to turn down a hallway with him. “Professor X has requested that you pay him a visit in his study before we go to the Danger Room.” Scott opens the next door and allows Aleanna and Loki to proceed him into the room. “Professor? This is Aleanna,” Scott motions to each of them in turn, “and Loki.”

The man behind the desk - Professor Xavier - turns his wheelchair to face them, “Thank you Scott, that will be all for now. Please wait for the rest of their group to arrive, we’ll join you at the danger room later.” Scott leaves them and Aleanna looks at Professor X expectantly. “Please,” he motions them to the chairs in front of his desk, “have a seat.”

Aleanna tips her chin ever so slightly to Loki, to indicate she’d like him to sit as well, then settles into the chair closest to her. Loki hesitates a moment before taking a seat as well.

“Allow me to introduce myself, I’m Professor Charles Xavier,” he says in greeting. “Natasha implied that the two of you may not wish to be parted. Aleanna, I have to ask, are you comfortable with having a private conversation in front of Loki?”

“Of course. Anything you’d like to discuss with me can be said in front of Loki,” Aleanna assures. She shifts her eyes to Loki, then back to the professor.

“Very well,” he replies. “Here at the school we offer a safe place for mutant-kind to learn to control their powers. I’ve developed a tool, Cerebro, to amplify my telepathic ability, which helps me to locate mutants around the world. When I find individuals that seem ready to come train here, I send a few of my X-men to invite them to join us.” Aleanna and Loki listen patiently, not sure where this is going. “When Ms. Romanoff first visited the school she mentioned you, and I became curious, so I attempted to find you. Cerebro was not able to track you, which suggests your mutant abilities are quite substantial. I would like to offer you the opportunity to develop your abilities here at the school.”

Loki lets out a soft snort, something akin to a snicker and Aleanna gives him a warning look. “Professor, I am quite honored by your offer, but I regret that I am unable to accept. I’ve only recently traveled,” she pauses ever so slightly, “here, and I shan't be staying much past the resolution of the war for the Infinity Stones.” Aleanna can feel Loki’s eyes on her as she reveals the limit of her time in this reality, but keeps her eyes trained on Professor X. “While I am here, my attention must be on helping Earth’s heroes orchestrate a successful campaign against Thanos.”

Professor X smiles gently to Aleanna, “You would have been a fitting member for our team, but we must all follow our own paths.”

Aleanna and Loki stand and Aleanna tips her head respectfully to Professor X, “Perhaps we should go to the Danger Room?”

“Very well,” the professor shifts his wheelchair from behind the desk and leads them from the room.

*****

The trio leave the office and take the elevator to the lower levels of the school. Professor X suddenly turns to Aleanna, “Wanda and Vision will be joining us in the Danger Room. They seemed pleased to hear that the Avengers would be joining us for a few training sessions.”

Aleanna’s hand drifts along the inside of Loki’s arm before settling into his hand. She turns her attention to the professor, “How did the school fair against the attacking aliens? I understand Natasha and a team of the Avengers were able to provide support.”

“These are dangerous times for mutant-kind, and the students know that even here at the school there is no guarantee of safety. We train the youngest of the students to seek shelter in the lockdown areas of the school. The older students provide a layer of protection there, and the rest of the staff and I countered the assault. We were thankful for the assistance provided by the Avengers. I believe that this strike was intended to test our security and reaction time. We proved fast indeed. I do not anticipate them making another haphazard stab at the school.”

“Do not underestimate Thanos,” Loki says softly, eyes flicking to Professor X. “His ‘Children’ have proven to be cunning time and time again.”

The professor nods respectfully to Loki, “We will remain diligent.” They turn a corner and come to stand in front of a large round door with a large “x” across it. “Here we are,” Professor X says, using his security clearance to open the door. “Please, excuse me. I must get back for the next class session. I believe Storm is in the control room, ready to run the simulations.” 

Aleanna and Loki step through the open door, allowing it to roll closed behind them. In front of them is an ordinary-looking street cars parked along the edges, but otherwise appearing to be barren. Loki swings Aleanna around and backs her against the nearest car, his lips settling on hers in a soft kiss. He pulls back to speak to her, “I would be remiss if I failed to mentioned how pleased I am that we have arrived early for our meeting.” He gently runs his lips against her cheek down to her neck, placing a soft kiss there. “Must we stay and train with the others?”

“We must, it will be good to spend time working as a team,” Aleanna’s attention shifts from him for a moment and she pushes against him until he backs up slightly. She rests her forehead against his. “I am fairly certain we are not alone,” she says on a soft whisper. Loki’s body becomes more rigid as he listens for anything to indicate that her words are true. Aleanna slowly raises her magic, searching the space around them with the energy. Loki shifts to the side suddenly and flings a dagger to the left. Aleanna’s eyes widen and she flings her hand out holding the dagger, and a man frozen behind it.

“Shoot first and ask questions later?” Aleanna quips to Loki. Her eyes shift to the man, he swallows uncomfortably as she examines him. “Sneaking up on people can be dangerous,” she finally says. Loki steps forward and retrieves his dagger, using magic to make it disappear again. Aleanna releases the magic holding the man.

The door opens again and the Avengers, Guardians and Thor walk into the danger room. Wanda pushes to the front of the group, “Pietro, what are you doing in here, I thought you were assisting Wolverine with a class.”

Aleanna’s eyes narrow in understanding, “Quicksilver?” She turns to Pietro, “I did not know you survived the Battle of Sokovia.”

“Of course he survived,” Wanda sounds horrified.

“Sorry, I should have figured my information was faulty in this situation, it cleared up some licensing issues too cleanly.” Natasha steps up behind Wanda, questions clearly etched in her expression. Aleanna raises a hand to stall her, “Nevermind, not important.”

Wanda looks between her brother and Aleanna for a moment before pointing to each of them, “Aleanna, Pietro. Pietro, Aleanna.”

Aleanna offers her hand to Pietro and he shakes it, then Aleanna touches Loki’s arm to indicate him, “This is Loki.” Loki nods his head to Pietro, getting a nod in return.

“Great,” Tony pushes through to the front, “Now that we’ve got all the niceties taken care of, lets see this thing in action. Scott was going to assist Storm in the control room.”

“We’re in place,” Scott says, voice coming over speaks. “I would recommend breaking into groups. We can set a safe area in the room to limit the number of times we need to open the door and reset the simulation.”

A section of the room shifts, turning into an observation room. Wanda pulls her brother inside and Vision follows. “We’ve had plenty of time to use the Danger Room,” he says by way of explanation.

Tony looks at their group, “Guardians, you may as well stick together, let us see what you got.” He turns to Natasha, “Nat, I want you and Clint with Steve and Bucky.” He points to Thor, “You and your brother will be with me, Aleanna and the kid.” Tony scans the crowd. “Peter?”

“Yes, Mr. Stark.” Peter pushes through the crowd, Legolas walking just behind him.

Sindle is on Legolas’s shoulder. He sees Aleanna and immediately lets out a puff of cold air. “Sindle was quite unhappy to be left behind,” the AI explains.

Aleanna and Sindle lock eyes with one another a moment, Aleanna listening to the dragon before finally responding aloud, “I am very sorry. You were resting when we left. I thought you would sleep the whole time we were gone.” Sindle stomps one of his little feet, staring at Aleanna. “Then I will ask before leaving next time. Okay?” The dragon looks a bit more mollified at that suggestion.

“Guardians,” Tony calls, “Lets have you go first.”

“Right, Guardians, let's do this,” Quill says. The Avengers, Loki and Aleanna move to join the group in the safe zone.

“I am Groot,” Groot grumbles and continues playing on his device.

Mantis begins herding Groot to the observation area, “Perhaps the four of your can kick names and take ass?” 

Peter Quill rubs his hand over his face in frustration, “Sheesh guys.”

A woman’s voice comes over the speaker, “Would you like single targets or multiples?”

“Single?” Quill says, it sounding more like a question than a statement.

“Sentinel Session difficulty level one beginning- now,” the woman, Storm, says.

The room changes from a quiet street to a city block filled with broken down buildings, fires burning throughout. There’s the noise of heavy stomping a few seconds before a burst of flames shoots at Quill and his team. They all roll in separate directions and Quill quickly touches the side of head, his helmet forming over his face. “Come on guys, let's show them what Guardians can do.” He turns and shoots his blasters, rolling out of the way at the return fire.

Rocket pulls a large gun from his back and races around a burning car, looking for a clear shot of their target. “I don’t see nothin’. What are we even fighting?”

“I will face the monster head on,” Drax states and runs off with a challenging roar.

Gamora rolls her eyes and steps from behind cover, she walks forwards, bringing her sword from its sheath and charging towards where the last blast came from, “Peter, I need some covering fire.”

Quill stands and blasts randomly at the back of the room, “Let’s go ugly, show us what you’re made of.” His snarky comment is met with laser fire and he ducks behind a building that is more rubble than bricks.

Rocket aims at the location of the laser fire and returns fire, halting the assailant’s firing. “Got ‘em!”

Gamora jumps from the back of a car up to the remains of the second story of a building, then into the air, sword raised in her hands. She comes down with a screech of metal on metal. The smoke clears enough to show the large robot, a sentinel, they are fighting. Gamora rolls away from it and ducks behind another building before it can turn to shoot at her.

Drax runs up to it and slashes it in the leg, digging into the joint with his blade. The sentinel backhands him away, but now moves in a slightly more disjointed motion.

“Rocket,” Quill shouts, “You remember Arago 5?”

“Yeah, I remember Arago 5,” Rocket replies. “But I don’t like where this conversation is going. Bad plan, Quill!”

“Come on,” Quill weedles, “It was a great plan!” A rocket blasts between the two and they both jump away, rubble landing on them. 

Rocket gives a huff of frustration then reaches for something on his belt, “Alright, alright.” He runs across the clearing towards Quill mumbling obscenities under his breath.

Quill grabs ahold of Rocket and flings him in the air towards the sentinel. Rocket hits the chest and scrambles for purchase for a few seconds, then jams a device from his hand onto the neck of the robot. He drops to the ground and rolls out of the way as the device explodes. The sentinel takes a stuttering step, drops to its knees, then falls face first to the ground.

Drax leaps on it and shoves a blade deep into the back of its neck, partially severing it, “Haha, I have bested the metal man!” Rocket rolls his eyes and walks away from the downed enemy.

Inside the observation room Thor grins and wraps an arm around Loki, “See brother, ‘Get Help’ can be a very effective tactic.”

Aleanna blinks at him, a smile curling onto her lips, “‘Get Help’ was a real tactic you used?” Loki pulls out of Thor’s grip and gives him a displeased look. Aleanna shakes her head, “I assumed it was the movie director wanting to add a bit of humor to the storyline.” She smiles fondly at Loki. “You have to admit, it did work against the guards.” Loki rolls his eyes, but chooses not to comment.

The Guardians of the Galaxy walk into the observation room and Tony motions to Natasha, “You guys wanna show us what you’ve got?”

Nat motions to the three guys on her team and they file out of the room. “Why don’t you give us multiple targets,” she calls out.

“Morlock Unrest Session difficulty level one beginning- now,” Scott says over the speaker. The scene shifts to a subway tunnel, four mutants are stalking towards Natasha and her group.

Captain America and Winter Soldier duck closer to Hawkeye and Black Widow. The Morlocks split into two groups one shift farther left, and the other to the right, trying to lure the group into splitting or into being surrounded.

One of the Morlocks comes at Natasha and she dodges the mutant’s attempt to hit her. The ground shakes as she hits it, “Cap, you two want to handle this one? Looks like she has super strength.”

“We’ve got her,” Captain America responds.

The next mutant comes in, snorting loudly then hawking the spit at Winter Soldier, who dodges. The spit sizzles as it hits the ground, acid eating away at the tiles beneath it. He rushes the guy as he snorts another loogie into his mouth, slamming his metal fist into the mutant’s stomach. The mutant doubles over and drops to the ground, immobilized.

Another male mutant walks up to the group and points to Black Widow, “Sleep” he whispers hypnotically. Black Widow sways, but Hawkeye takes an arrow out and slams it into the guy’s head, a metal brace wrapping around and zapping him with electrical current. The guy drops.

The last member of the group raises her hands towards Hawkeye, sparks of electricity dancing along them. Natasha slips out her fighting batons and catches the Morlock’s arm, drawing her attention.

The mutant fighting Captain America charges him, bringing her fists together, fingers linked to smash into his face. He raises his shield and the hit bounces off the vibranium surface. The Morlock woman flies through the air, hitting a subway car, denting the doors in. She staggers to standing again and stalks back towards Captain America. Meanwhile, Natasha lands a series of hits on the woman with electric powers, finally catching her under the chin and knocking her unconscious. 

Captain America gets ready to block the next punch from the mutant when the Winter Soldier reels back and punches her in the face. She drops like a rock onto the grimy subway tiles. Steve turns to Bucky and raises an eyebrow. “What?” Bucky grins. Steve shakes his head. 

The four walk back to the observation room and Tony looks to his team, “We’re up.” Peter touches the suit’s chest, it tightening against his skin. He slips his mask over his face.

Thor twirls Stormbreaker and nods to Loki, “Come, Brother. Let's show them what Asgardian warriors can do.” He walks through the door to the middle of the Danger Room. Tony allows his Iron Man nanosuit to form over his body and walks out as well, Spiderman following behind him. Loki’s magic flows over his body, shifting his clothing to his fighting leathers. Aleanna allows her magic to flow as well and the dress she was wearing changes into her black sparring clothes. Her knives appear in sheathes tucked behind her waist and her sword is at her back. She steps next to Loki. They walk to the middle of the room to join the rest of their group.

Tony sizes up his team, “Give us a challenge, will you?” There’s a deafening boom and the floor shakes.

The room is suddenly filled with the sound of a siren, Storm speaks over the noise, “This is not a part of the training exercise. The school is being attacked again.” The objects in the training room start to fade away and soon the metal plates of the wall are visible.

“Loki,” Thor says, looking around for quick exits.

“Yes, Brother,” Loki replies with understanding. He wraps and arm around Aleanna, then quickly speaks to their group. “I will transport us to the grounds, so we can fight back the invaders. Grab on if you wish to join me.” Thor rests his hand firmly on Loki and Spiderman leaps forward ducking into Loki’s other arm.

Iron Man huffs in exasperation and grabs ahold of Loki at the last second. “You guys protect Vision,” he shouts to the rest of the Avengers. They teleport from the room.


	56. New York All Over Again

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! Hope you enjoy this chapter!
> 
> We're chapters away from a sex scene chapter. I'm having trouble deciding if I should keep it in, because it is   
> quite graphic. I know up to this point the "Mature" tag hasn't really been needed for this fic, so I wanted to give fair warning. I'm leaning towards just leaving it in as is.

#  _ New York All Over Again _

The five land heavily on the lawn in back of the mansion; Loki being unaccustomed to carrying so many passengers, and thankful for the short distance required to get them above ground. Tony quickly steps back from Loki and turns to assess the enemies. “Chitauri?” he says in confusion. Thor steps back from Loki and Loki gently shoves Spiderman from his arm. Aleanna slips herself from his arms a moment later.

“I had suspected that Thanos did not send the entirety of his Chitauri warriors to Earth to aid in my war campaign,” Loki says offhandedly. Thor frowns at Loki. “What?” is the reply. “It would appear that we are dealing with only a handful of the warriors. It is likely that one of the Black Order is hidden among them, carrying a device to control the entire lot of them.”

“Right,” Tony blasts from the ground in his Iron Man suit, launching missiles at a cluster of Chitauri.

“Wait for me, Mr. Stark,” Spiderman shoots some webbing at one of the warriors, yanking it forward and punching it in the face. The half organic, half cybernetic warrior drops. He then runs into the battlefield to support Iron Man.

Thor raises his ax and flies into the air, powerful bolts of lightning swirling around him. He lands amongst a group of the Chitauri, the impact and lightning making them fly in all directions around him.

Some of the X-men are just now pouring from the school. Loki turns to Aleanna, “Do you see any of the Black Order?”

Aleanna scans the chaos around her, eyes shifting back a forth, “Not yet.” She turns to him. “I will find them.” She pushes off the ground and soars into the air, searching for any of the remaining members of the Black Order. Loki flings his hands down, daggers appearing as he darts into battle.

Aleanna spots a hulking warrior with a wicked looking ax walking among a large group of the Chitauri. She keeps her eyes on him as she focuses her mind on finding Loki. Her magic brushes against his and she follows it to his mind,  _ Loki _ , she thinks his name, trying not to distract him from the battle.

Loki starts slightly at the feel of Aleanna in his surface thoughts, he opens his mind further to her presence,  _ Aleanna, my lady, what is it? _

_ I have located the Child of Thanos. _ She sends him an image of Cull Obsidian to his mind.

_ That is Cull Obsidian, _ Loki sends to her.  _ He is exceptionally strong. _ Loki slashes his way through another group of Chitauri, fighting towards her.  _ I am coming. _

_ I am going to engage him, _ she informs him,  _ to keep him here. _

_ Aleanna,  _ Loki sends to her, but she’s dropped the connection. He curses out loud as he slaughters another group of Chitauri, running towards where he last saw her soaring through the sky.

Aleanna lands, pulling her sword from the sheath on her back, “Cull Obsidian,” she calls, drawing his attention. “Cease your attacks on Earth. Thanos will never have all the Infinity Stones.” She swings her blade and he brings his ax up to block it. He growls at Aleanna and pulls his fist back, punching at her. She dodges and slashes her sword at him again. He catches it against his mechanical arm, the blade digging in before he steps back and jerks out of her reach. She twists the sword in a figure eight her hand, grinning at Cull Obsidian.

The blade flashes in the sun as she strikes at him again. Cull Obsidian grunts as he blocks the blow with his ax again. Aleanna’s eyes are drawn to Loki fighting towards the them out of the corner of her eye. Cull Obsidian takes advantage of her momentary distraction and backhands her. She sails through the air, twists to regain control of her momentum. She lands on her feet, in a crouch, skidding back several feet.

Loki slashes through another Chitauri warrior and spins to face Aleanna, “Perhaps waiting for assistance would have been prudent?” He scans her face, noting the swelling from Cull Obsidian’s strike. 

“I felt it was important to assess his abilities,” Aleanna replies, rubbing her hand along her bruised cheek, the bruises and swelling already starting to fade.

“And what did you surmise?” Loki sinks his dagger into another Chitauri. 

“Defeating him will be quite difficult,” she replies, searching the grounds. “I think I have an idea of how we can temporarily gain the upper hand.” She scoops a small stone into her hand.

Loki’s eyes flash to the rock in her hand. “Somehow I do not think whipping pebbles from a sling will topple this giant,” Loki quips.

“Aren’t you well-read?” Aleanna grins at him then grabs his hand and drops the stone into it. “Hold it for a moment, I need to concentrate.” She shifts her hands several times, then touches the stone. It begins to glow, then turns yellow.

“You mean to trick him?” Loki scans the battlefield, defending Aleanna as she turns, searching for something.

“Indeed,” she turns a circle, still searching. “I require a strong telepath, Professor X or perhaps Jean Grey.”

Loki scans the battleground and quickly points, “There, the professor is on the back patio.”

Aleanna nods, “I will return, stay safe.” She winnows away from him and appears next to Professor X. “Professor, I have an idea.”

She quickly relays her idea and he nods, “Very well, I will assist you in your plan.”

Aleanna touches Professor X and his chair, winnowing him with her behind Cull Obsidian. She holds the stone out, allowing it to float in front of her. The professor puts both his hands on his temples, concentrating on connecting his mind to the aggressive creature.

The stone floats out in front of Cull Obsidian and he grabs it, cradling it in his hand. Aleanna glances behind her and sends a wave of energy out to protect the professor, pushing a group of Chitauri back. With a growl, Cull Obsidian turns and walks away from the battlefield, stone clenched in his fist.

Iron Man lands next to Aleanna and blasts a Chitauri warrior that was creeping closer, “Wanna fill me in, Princess?”

Aleanna flicks her eyes to Iron Man and back to Professor X. “Let Cull Obsidian leave on his ship. Clean up the rest of the Chitauri.”

“I get the feeling we’re trying to buy more time,” he responds.

“As well as whittling down Thanos’s army,” Aleanna agrees.

Tony shakes his head, “We really need to get comms for you and the Asgardian boys.” With that he launches back into the air, sending a volley of missiles into another group of Chitauri.

Aleanna sees a large group of Chitauri work towards the professor and she raises a shimmering shield around him and herself. A few moments later a ship can be seen flying away from the surface. Professor X drops his hands from his head. “It is done.”

Loki fights his way to the shield, viciously attacking the Chitauri surrounding it. He drops the last warrior and spins in a circle, looking for more Chitauri. Thor lands next to him, and Loki raises his daggers slightly. “Peace, Brother,” Thor states. “We have won this day.” Loki uses his magic to make his daggers disappear.

Aleanna carefully examines the whole battlefield for a moment before dropping the shield surrounding her and Professor Xavier. “Thank you, Professor,” she says. Loki steps quickly to Aleanna, wrapping an arm around her.

Iron Man lands next to Thor and Spiderman comes running up a minute later. Professor X addresses the whole group, “Thank you all for your efforts in defending the school.”

“We’re the Avengers, defending Earth is kinda what we do,” Tony says with a smirk.

Natasha and Steve work their way over the bodies of the fallen Chitauri, coming up to the group. “This is just like the Battle of New York all over again,” Natasha grumbles. She looks at Loki and Aleanna standing together, “Then again, maybe not.”

Aleanna raises her magic enough to scan the battlefield for her blood, searing it away. She cleans the blood and grime from her person with another flare of magic.

Loki turns to face her, “Are you ready to return to the Avengers Headquarters?”

A quick look around the battlefield and Aleanna shakes her head, stepping out of his arms, “You cannot mean to leave the rest of the Avengers and X-Men to clean up all these bodies?” 

“Very well,” Loki says sulkily. As his magic builds Aleanna impulsively links her hand in his, pushing her magic to him through their joined hands. His magic bursts out of him in a flare of green power and the bodies are all gone, as is the damage to the grounds and any sign of the battle on his armor.

Aleanna stems the flow of magic forcefully, it having built so fast, so willingly, that it threatened to overwhelm her. She drops her eyes to her and Loki’s joined hands, trying to understand the implications.


	57. A Moment Alone

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A chapter that might seem a little like fluff, but there's a few key bits of information stashed in there. Hope you enjoy. Next chapter *will* contain erotic elements. You have been warned. :)

#  _ A Moment Alone _

Loki teleports himself and Aleanna back to Avengers Headquarters. Aleanna stands out on the lawn, listening to the birds chirp and looking off into the distance for a few moments before she finally speaks, “It’s beautiful, this version of Earth.” She breathes the air in and turns to find Loki watching her. A soft smile crosses her face, “Come.” Aleanna slips off her boots and socks walking through the grass barefoot. “The weather is absolutely perfect.” She reaches into her pocket dimension and pulls out a pieces of cloth, she shakes it a few times and spreads it out, using a flare of magic to increase the size of it. Another flare of magic has her sword and knives tucked back into her pocket dimension. She settles onto the blanket with her hands hugging her knees and her face tilted towards the sun, eyes closed.

After several minutes, Aleanna feels Loki settle onto the blanket next to her. “It saddens me that you came here after Asgard was destroyed,” Loki finally says. “It was exquisite.”

Aleanna’s eyes flutter open and she smiles warmly at Loki. “If there is a way to someday see it, I would be very pleased to see your beloved home.” She shifts until she is laying on her back, knees bent and eyes closed.

Loki hesitates several times before finally forcing himself to ask, “Do you- what I mean is, your magic is it-” He sighs in irritation, trying to word his question properly, “Have you noticed anything odd in the way that our magics interact?”

Aleanna’s eyes pop open. “Yes, I was unsure if it was odd, for this version of the multiverse, I mean.” She builds a strand of magic in her hands, raised in front of her face, weaving her fingers until it flows through them. She whispers a word, then the strand is visible, glowing a pale silver. She drops her hands but the strand remains in the air, drifting slightly in the breeze. “I have not experienced anything similar in all my travels.”

Loki looks at the strand then gently touches it with the tip of his finger. It twines around his hand, then melts into his skin. He releases a strand of his own magic drifting it above her head. She smiles over at him and gently touches the strand, feeling it wrap around her hand before flowing into her. “Fascinating,” she says softly.

Aleanna releases another strand of magic. Loki releases one of his own, then shifts down to lay next to her. Aleanna whispers a word to make both the strands visible. Silver and green flow together, weaving in and around one another. Aleanna reaches her hand out to gently touch them. She takes a sharp intake of breath, eyes fluttering closed. Magic courses into her, a tingling sensation spreading throughout her body.

Loki turns his head to watch her. She tilts her head to face him and grins. She again releases a strand of magic and Loki does the same. After a moment he reaches up and Aleanna watches his reaction. The moment he feels the joined strands flow into him his breath hitches and he shudders. “That’s exquisite. Absolutely addictive.”

Aleanna leans over Loki, resting her arms against his chest and drops a kiss on his lips. He attempts to deepen the kiss but she pulls back, eyes drifting to the sky. “The others are coming. I find myself unwilling to end our private time together.”

“I could teleport us away,” Loki offers.

Aleanna sighs. “Our responsibilities would call us back here,” she shifts her eyes back to his again. “But, perhaps a temporary diversion from our tasks.” Her magic swells and surrounds her, shifting her body to that of a pure white cat with her same blue eyes. Loki runs his hand gently along her fur, then scratches under her chin. His magic swells and he shifts into a black cat. He curls his body around hers and they lay together, soaking up the sun.

Aleanna purrs softly and soon Loki joins her. Loki reaches out to her with his mind tentatively. She feels him and opens her mind to him,  _ Yes? _

_ I had no idea you could shapeshift in such a manner, _ Loki says through their minds.

_ The gift of the Cait Sidhe I once stumbled upon in a version of San Francisco. _ She rubs her head under his chin.  _ I was still not shielding myself from gaining new abilities at that point and suddenly found myself with the ability to shift into a cat… among other things. _

Both Loki and Aleanna catch sight of Thor landing on the lawn.  _ I believe our reprieve may be short-lived, _ Loki sends to her.

Before Aleanna can question this Thor walks to them, bending down next to the two of them, “Brother, you cannot mean to lay around as a cat all afternoon.”

_ Thor is quite familiar with many of my forms, including this one. _ Loki says to Aleanna, exasperation coloring his tone in her mind.

Aleanna gets to her feet, stretching into a crescent, then rubbing against Thor’s hand in an attempt at luring him to pet her,  _ Shall I bite him?  _ There’s a soft chuckle in her mind in response. Aleanna turns away from Thor again and flops down next to Loki. _ There’s only one thing to be done. We shall do what cats do best, ignore him. _ She closes her eyes and begins purring again.

“My regrets for this intrusion upon your person, My Lady,” Thor says a moment before he scoops Aleanna up into one arm and Loki into the other.

Aleanna shouts _ Unhand me! _ which comes out as a surprised miaow.

Loki chuckles in her mind again.  _ You may as well relax, unless you mean to shift in Thor’s arms. At this point, I have no doubt he would continue carrying you in your bipedal form just to prove a point. _

Aleanna digs her claws into Thor’s chestpiece in an attempt to gain at least a little control of the situation.

*****

Thor walks into the common area off of the Avengers suites and Tony looks up from a takeout menu, “I didn’t know you stopped to adopt some strays.” Loki leaps to the floor as soon as they cross into the room and Aleanna wiggles from Thor’s arms and leaps onto the counter. She walks over to the takeout menu, wondering where they’re ordering lunch from.

“Who’s a pretty kitty?” Tony coos reaches a hand out to pet the white cat. Loki catches his wrist, having transformed back to his Aesir form. Tony bristles at Loki, but his attention is soon drawn to the white cat as she shifts into Aleanna, who is now sitting on the counter, her legs dangling over the edge and her feet bare.

Tony pulls his wrist from Loki’s grasp and clears his throat, grabbing the takeout menu and walking away from the two. He frowns at Thor, “A little warning would have been nice.”

A smile slowly pulls to Thor’s lips, “Brother, I think I understand why you never cease in your mischief. I find myself readily enjoying it when I am not the direct target of your antics.”

Natasha comes walking in with Clint, “We should move the Guardians’ ship, it was a pain trying to get the Quinjet back into its spot.”

Aleanna slides off the counter to stand next to Loki. “The Statesman,” she says like she’s suddenly remembered something.

“Aleanna?” Loki prompts. 

“What are the chances of you being able to get a ship twenty times the size of the Benatar to us without the government noticing?” She asks Tony.

Tony frowns, understanding where Aleanna is going with this, “Slim to none. We’re also not going to want to leave it parked on the front lawn, drawing attention.”

“Surely you can talk to the authorities and they can allow temporary asylum for the people of Asgard,” Thor says.

“You’re greatly underestimating the bureaucratic bullcrap we deal with on a daily basis.” Natasha mutters. “There’ll have to be weeks of talks leading up to an official government statement regarding the ‘alien’ refugees.”

“Perhaps,” Loki speaks, then shifts his eyes around the group, “Perhaps the Wakandan king might allow the refugees to land the ship inside his borders?”

Tony starts nodding slowly, “That might just work, I’ll send a message to King T’Challa and see what he says.” 

“Heimdall.” Aleanna shoots a glance to Loki, then to Thor. “Wakanda has great medical facilities. If anyone on Earth can save Heimdall, it would be them.”

Tony starts to walk away. “Tony?” Natasha calls to halt him. “We should move the team to Wakanda.”

Pieces of the puzzle locking into place in Aleanna’s mind, and she begins to nod in agreement, “Yes. They have a shield around their land, we would be able to defend the stones more readily.”

“I’ll help you make the arrangements,” Nat says to Tony. She turns from the room, Tony following her.

Clint looks around at the remaining group, “Well, what’s for lunch?”


	58. Sated

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Explicit. You have been warned.

#  _Sated_

The rest of the day passes quickly and plans are made to move the entire group to Wakanda. Fury would be staying behind. It was decided that he was still needed stateside to deal with the bureaucrats coming out of the woodwork. Shuri and Bruce were going to travel with Dr. Strange to Wakanda directly, having given up hope on finding a solution hiding within the tomes in the library. Vision and Wanda would be be picked up by T’Challa yet that evening, traveling via one of his jets. The rest; the Avengers, Guardians, Aleanna and Asgardians would leave in the morning via three quinjets.

Aleanna pondered all this as she and Loki walked back to their quarters. Sindle riding on her shoulder, having forgiven her for leaving him in the suite earlier that day. The door closes quietly behind them and Sindle flies to one of the chairs by the bookcase, landing on, then curling sleepily into the blanket Aleanna had used out on the lawn earlier. Aleanna blinks at Loki a few times, then shakes her head.

“Something troubles you?” Loki softly asks.

“I just realized it today is Thursday,” Aleanna murmurs in reply.

“What is the significance of it being Thor’s Day?”

“There is little significance in the day, but rather in the fact that we’ve only known each other since Monday,” she brings a hand up to his chest, brushing her lips gently against his in a whisper-soft kiss, “and I cannot imagine ever being parted from you.”

Loki’s breath catches and he brings his hand to the side of her neck, running his thumb gently across her cheek. “If you feel we should slow things I would ask you to stop tormenting me with such kisses.” He takes a step back and drops his hand, “I have been thinking, about the way that our magic interacts.”

“Hmm,” Aleanna raises her magic, releasing some strands around her. “And what have you deduced?”

“Like attracts like,” Loki simply states. “There is some similar element in our magic drawing it together.” Loki releases some of his magic to drift through the air with hers.

Aleanna takes a step closer to him, “Would you like to hear my theory?” At Loki’s nod she continues. “I believe our magic is drawn as we are drawn, that it is simply a reflection of the pull we both feel. Whether this pull is Fate drawing our lives together, or Destiny or some other force, I do not know.”

“Fate?” Loki asks.

Aleanna nods. Their twined magic slowly settles upon them and both breath deeply, shuddering in pleasure. Loki builds his magic again, but Aleanna rests her hand on his arm, “Wait, I would rather not draw undue attention from other magic users,” she brings magic to the borders of the room, creating a barrier to contain and cloak the magic within. Loki adds a touch of his magic afterwards, adding a layer of silencing magic to the room.

Loki pulls his magic into the air once more and their magics mingle. Loki pulls Aleanna tightly to him, “Tell me now, if you do not want this.” His body is taut and his breath pants lightly from him.

Aleanna looks to his eyes and shakes her head, “To say I do not would be a lie.”

Their magic drifts down upon them and all control is lost. Loki hikes Aleanna up, her legs wrap instantly around his waist. His lips find hers in a frenzied kiss. They break apart, both panting. Aleanna rests her forehead against his and breathes deeply, “Our magic is intoxicating us. We’re losing control.”

Loki uses his magic to create a barrier around the bed, keeping all sound and the heavily-magic’d air outside of it. He gently lays Aleanna down, pulling on his magic again to remove their clothes. His eyes feast on her, “You are exquisite.”

Her eyes run the length of his body as well, catching on the impressive member between his legs before lifting to meet his eyes again, “And you are a masterpiece.”

Loki shifts over the top of her and grips her hips, kissing her roughly before breaking away, “I do not think I can be gentle, the first time,” he pants. “I need you too badly.”

“I am hardly fragile.” Aleanna says. Then, as Loki’s lips come down to latch onto her nipple, she says with a sigh of ecstacy, “Take me, I am yours.”

Loki releases her nipple, shifts her hips and pushes into her in one excruciatingly slow, smooth motion. They both groan. “So tight,” Loki says on another groan. Aleanna’s inner muscles tighten at the intrusion and Loki grips her hips tightly, “Careful, Darling, or this will end before it has even begun.”

“Sorry, it’s been a long time for me,” Aleanna murmurs, she tries to will her body to relax against the intrusion.

Loki pumps his hips, thrusting into her again, cursing softly, “It has been a long time for me as well. It will be quick the first time. I will make it up to you.” Loki shifts her hips again and increases his pace, thrusting into her over and over, clenching his teeth in an effort to stave off his release.

Aleanna gasps, arching into him, “Loki,” she cries his name before her orgasm cuts off all thought.

Loki’s hips jerk a few more times before he explodes inside her. His movements shudder slowly to a halt and he collapses on top of her. A moment later he mumbles, “By the Norns, you wreck me,” against her skin.

Aleanna lifts a hand to run her fingers lazily through his hair. “Let’s never leave this bed,” she says softly.

Loki lifts himself up on his arms, gazing down at her. “You are remarkable,” he whispers. He frames her face with his hands, “I shall never let you go. You are mine now.”

Aleanna pushes her hips against him and twists until she’s on top of him, legs straddling his waist, “So long as you remember that _you_ are _mine_ as well.” She clenches her inner muscles on him and his breath pushes out of him.

He swells inside her and grins as her eyes flutter shut in pleasure. Suddenly, he flips them so he is on top again. He grabs her hands and pulls them above her head. “I do hope you are feeling well-rested, Love. You are in for a very long night.” With that his hips pump into her as he slowly builds the tension in her body again.

A low moan escapes Aleanna’s lips as Loki works her towards another orgasm. She pulls against his grasp, wanting to touch him, explore him.

“Ah, ah, Darling,” he says as he keeps his tight hold on her wrists. “Allow me to please you. Give in to me, completely.” He leans down and trails his lips along her neck.

Aleanna sighs and relaxes, allowing Loki full control. She feels her orgasm building deep within her core and with it, her magic rises, “Loki,” she tries to for the words to explain.

“Shh, Love. Come for me,” at his command Aleanna loses all control and her orgasm racks her body. Her magic swells at the same time, flowing into him and tripping his own orgasm. He groans loudly, slamming into her one last time, spilling his seed into her. His magic swells along with hers and flows into her, extending their orgasms, both coming undone again.

The magic dissipates slightly and they slowly come back down from their high. Loki turns over, pulling Aleanna with him, so she’s laying with her head on his chest. “I shall never let you go,” he repeats, “you know that right? You are forever mine now.”

Aleanna hums and lifts her head to look at him, “Willingly. I am yours.” She slowly leans down and brushes her lips to his, kissing him softly, working her way down to his neck. She bites his earlobe gently, then gives it a kiss to soothe the bite. Aleanna then kisses her way down his chest. Loki suddenly catches her under the arms and tosses her to the bed, leaning over her. He thrusts into her again and they both groan with pleasure.

Loki and Aleanna spend a long night wrapped in one another. The sky is just starting to lighten when they collapse together, falling into a deep, sated sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whew, okay hit post before I could chicken out. :)


	59. Speak of This to No One

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Poor Tony. :)
> 
> Thanks very much for all the views (580+ wow!!), the kudos and comments. Dear Readers, you are all awesome!

#  _Speak of This to No One_

Tony walks up to Aleanna’s room and greets her AI of her brother, “Hey Legolas, could you give Peter a hand with some things in the lab? I’d like to bring along a few projects, and the portable SpaCT I made.” Legolas gives Tony a nod and walks down the hall towards the lab. Tony knocks on Aleanna’s door. After a moment he knocks again, then finally walks through. “Morning Sunshine,” he begins, then looks at Aleanna laying on her stomach with Loki’s arm draped possessively around her. Both appear to be sound asleep. Tony rolls his eyes, “Haha, come on guys, trick me twice and all that.” Neither move and Tony sighs then pushes the door, closing it loudly, “Look, we’ve got to get everyone loaded in the Quinjets.”

Tony catches a movement out of the corner of his eye and looks over at Sindle, who is stretching like a cat. He gives Tony a disgruntled look, then flies over to the bed, seeming to shimmer as he reaches the edge of it. Sindle lands gently beside the pair, then walks to Loki and puts one paw against his forehead. Loki’s eyes blink open and he lifts his head, a vulnerable, open look on his face. His eyes drift to Aleanna’s sleeping form and he pulls the sheet more carefully around her. Tony shifts from one foot to the other and Loki’s eyes dart to him. His face instantly becomes more guarded. He gently extracts himself from around Aleanna, and shifts from the bed. Seemingly unconcerned for his naked form, he stands and then conjures some clothes on his body.

Tony rubs his hands down his face, “Well, I can’t unsee that. Maybe bleach... Sight is overrated anyway.”

Loki comes around the side of the bed, fully clothed now, “My apologies, Stark. The bed is warded to prevent sound from traveling into or outside of its edges, I did not hear you approach.”

“Aaaand I didn’t need to hear that.” Tony finishes wiping his hands over his face and gives Loki a scowl. Aleanna rolls over in the bed and both men watch the sheet pull along with her until the barest length of material is draped to cover her butt.

Loki’s eyes lock on her form, a hungry look growing on his face. Tony gives a defeated sigh and turns around mechanically, until his back is to the bed, eyes resolutely facing the bedroom door. “Look, I came to say we’re leaving in about forty-five minutes. Do you think you can control your primal urges long enough that the two of you can get dressed and get out to the jet?”

Loki stares at Aleanna a long moment, saying nothing. Tony’s eyes flick sideways to look at him and he is about to repeat himself when Loki finally responds, “Speak of this to no one. Aleanna would not wish her personal life to be discussed amongst her friends. Say whatever vile things you wish about me, I care not, but she is above reproach.” He turns his eyes to Tony.

Tony gives Loki a long searching look before finally giving a single nod of his head, then walks out of the room, re-closing the door behind him.

Loki walks back to the bed, then drops the magic barriers they built around the room and bed. As the magic slowly dissipates, he reaches out to gently run the back of his fingers against Aleanna’s cheek. A smile forms on her lips and she lifts her head to look at him, hair cascading all around her head at the shift, “Morning, Loki.”

“Morning Aleanna, Love. Sorry to wake you, but we must make haste if we are to leave for Wakanda on time,” Loki says, affection in his voice.

Aleanna rolls over and stretches her arms over her head, arching her back, yawning. Loki swallows slowly then shifts up from the bed, “I shall see if I can find something for us to eat.”

*****

Loki walks back into the room a few minutes later, with a glass of orange juice and some toast. He can just make out Aleanna singing over the sound of the shower. With a grin, he sets the juice and toast down on the nightstand. Loki uses his magic to stripe bare and then teleports directly into the shower with Aleanna, “Darling, I-” his hisses and jerks his body out of the path of the spray, “Curses, woman! How hot do you take your showers?”

Aleanna turns around and chuckles. “Sorry, I usually just crank it to as hot as it will go.” She reaches back and turns it down to a more reasonable temperature. “It seems like more often than not I end up in a reality where hot showers are not possible. I try to take full advantage when I can.”

Loki steps back into the spray and wraps his arms around her. “Hmm. I see.” He drops a kiss to her lips.

“Careful,” Aleanna warns, “We’ve got a very tight window if we are to get to the Quinjet on time.”

“Tight, huh?” Loki rubs suggestively against Aleanna. “That sounds very much like a challenge.” He lifts her, backing her up against the shower wall, taking her lips in a consuming kiss.

*****

They make it to the Quinjet with five minutes to spare. Loki is grinning widely and Aleanna keeps shaking her head at him, trying to keep the grin from her own lips. She walks up the ramp to the jet, then frowns at the jump seats arranged on either side of the cabin.

“Tony?” she calls to Tony, who is working his way through flight checks. “How long is our flight to Wakanda?”

Tony looks over his shoulder at her, “About ten hours, Princess.” He turns back around to finish the flight checks.

Aleanna gives the seats another look of disdain before she shifts her hands a few times and touches the nearest one, it shifts into a more comfortable bucket seat. She does this to the remaining chairs, save one. The last she shifts into a double seat and motions for Loki to sit next to her.

When Tony glances back again he does a double-take then rolls his eyes, shaking his head, “Guess this is the first class Quinjet. FYI,” he says, looking back at Loki and Aleanna, “Clint has agreed to take the Guardians in one jet, Nat has Bucky and Steve tucked in hers along with all the lab equipment I grabbed. Thor, Peter and Legolas should be heading this way shortly. Nat just informed me that they’ve gotten the last crate loaded.”

Aleanna is tucked up against Loki’s side, eyes closed when Thor, Peter and Legolas walk onto the Quinjet. Legolas walks over to the pair, frowning slightly, but not commenting. Finally he says, “Is Sindle traveling with us, Sister?”

Aleanna responds without opening her eyes, “He decided to spend the duration of the flight inside my pocket dimension so he could protect his horde.” She shifts a little in an effort to get comfortable.

“Listen up kids, time to take a seat, we’re about ready for lift off.” Tony warns from the front. Peter walks to the front to sit next to Tony. Thor and Legolas both find a seat. The three Quinjets slowly lift off, moving from the hanger to the sky. The doors to the hanger slowly close. “F.R.I.D.A.Y. initiate ‘Nobody’s Home’ Protocol.” A moment later large metal shutters slide down over the top of all the windows of the facility.

Aleanna squirms against Loki and he sighs softly, “You don’t travel well by aircraft well do you?”

Her eyes pop open and she shrugs. “I do not, plus I feel a little punch drunk from all the magic we tossed around last night,” she finishes softly.

Loki grins widely at her, memories of all they did last night drifting to mind. “I could cast a spell to assist you in sleeping if you would like.”

“I’ve another possible solution,” Aleanna releases a burst of magic and there is a flash of light. She is once again a white cat. She hops up on Loki’s lap, curls in a circle and lays there, purring softly.

The flash of light catches Peter’s attention and his eyes get wide as he sees Aleanna’s fluffy new form, “Coool.” He gets up from his seat and walks back to where Loki is sitting. “Mr. Loki, do you think she’d mind if I pet her?” He plants himself on the seat next to Loki.

Loki concentrates on opening a link between them, _What do you say Aleanna, Love? Will you allow the Spiderling permission to pet you?_ He asks.

Aleanna gets to her feet, stretching until she resembles a crescent. _I suppose I can humor him._ She stands on Loki’s legs, facing Peter. _Go ahead_ she says on a meow.

Loki translates for her, “Lady Aleanna consents to being petted.”

Peter carefully runs his hand over the top of her head and down her back, the cat instincts in her making her flex up into his hand. Peter runs his hand over her a few more times, then she turns away and curls into Loki’s lap. _Send him away._

Loki holds a hand out to stop Peter from reaching for Aleanna again. “She no longer desires to be touched.”

“Thanks, Mr. Loki.” Peter stands and walks back to the front of the jet.

Aleanna stays curled in Loki’s lap and slowly drifts off to sleep.

*****

Thor walks over to Loki, settling into the seat beside him. “Loki,” he says quietly, keeping their conversation private. He looks down at the Aleanna curled in Loki’s lap. “Do you still say that she is not Your Lady?”

Loki’s lips form a mischievous smile before he can stop himself. “Well, perhaps she _is_ My Lady,” he agrees. They both sit in silence for a long moment.

“It pleases me to see you happy,” Thor finally says.

Loki bristles a moment, feeling overly exposed by Thor’s observation, then accepts the kind words for what they are, “Thank you, Brother.”

Thor looks Loki over once again, “You seem... exhausted. I would watch over you both, if you wish to rest while the opportunity is still available to you. Wakanda is yet hours away.”

Loki is about to decline when he remembers Aleanna’s words to Tony regarding being better able to face Thanos when they are rested. He looses a sigh and nods, “Very well Brother, I would be grateful.”

With a shimmer of magic, Loki is curled around Aleanna in his cat form. He purrs as he drifts off to sleep. It is several hours later when Loki wakes to a tugging at his ear. He cracks an eye open and watches in bewilderment as Aleanna’s tongue reaches out to lick his ear again, grooming him. _Darling, whatever are you doing?_

She freezes a fraction of an inch from licking his head again. There’s a flare of her magic and she’s standing next to the double seat, once again restored to her more elvish self. She makes a face and sticks out her tongue trying to remove the black hairs that are stuck on it. “Okay, yuck.”

Thor lets out a soft chuckle from his position on the double seat. “Lady Aleanna?”

Loki’s form changes with a flash of his magic and he’s sitting next to his brother with an amused grin on his face.

“When I fully transition to a cat, I behave in a much more cat-like manner. Sorry, I didn’t realize that I had lost myself that completely to being a cat.”

“Has that ever happened before?” Loki asks, intrigued.

“I once spent almost a month as a cat. It was not until I was a cat for two full weeks that I lost myself to the call to stay as a cat.” Aleanna replies sheepishly.

“What happened to draw you back?” Thor cuts in, his interest clear.

Aleanna’s lips shift from a scowl to a smirk, “A couple pre-teens thought it would be funny to corner a little white cat and douse it in water. I blasted out of my cat-state hissing and sputtering, returned to my normal self. I was lucky to be within the walls of one of the courts of faery at the time... Though their King was very surprised to find me among their number.” Aleanna trails off, her mind on those long ago events.

“Well, good morning,” Tony calls from the front of the Quinjet, having noticed that they are awake. “We’ve got sandwiches in the cooler behind Peter. If you don’t like those, I think there’s MREs in the cabinet to the left of the one marked ‘first aid kit.’”

Aleanna walks to the front of the jet and grabs a handful of sandwiches. She offers them to Thor and Loki, who each take one. She begins eating hers, and Loki tugs her down into his lap, eating his sandwich with one hand and holding on to her with the other. Every so often Thor will look over with a smile plastered on his face then quickly turn his attention back to the sandwich in his hands.


	60. WAKANDA

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much, dear readers, for over 600 views! This is a longer chapter, hopefully you enjoy. We're nearing the end of this book in the trilogy.  
> This chapter has some erotic elements. You've been warned. :)

#  _ WAKANDA _

The lights from Wakanda are just coming into view hours later. Aleanna lets out a sigh of relief. Thor had drifted back over to his own seat shortly after they finished their meal together. Tony, Clint and Natasha had flown the three jets through the shield as soon as they received the go ahead from Wakandan security. They would land shortly now. Aleanna couldn’t wait to get out and stretch her legs. Loki pulls her tight against him, “Relax Love, we are nearly there now.”

Aleanna sighs dramatically and earns a chuckle from Loki. “It pleases me to amuse you so.” Aleanna sways slightly.

“Aleanna?” Loki’s hold on her tightens further still.

She closes her eyes a moment, then blinks a few times, “Vibranium, lots of it. I can feel the power it emanates all the way from here.”

Loki flicks his gaze back towards the front of the jet. “You need not worry about gaining some unexpected power from the metal?”

“No, I will be fine. My immunities settled almost instantly when T’Challa brought the shield out for Steve.” Aleanna explains.

The three Quinjets land in a central square, the back hatches opening. There’s two lines of guards along either side of the square. King T’Challa and Shuri stand waiting to greet them all. Aleanna and Loki quickly exit the jet and Shuri looks at her, eyes wide, “Holy moly- Dr. Strange had mentioned that you’d changed.” She walks up and grins at her, “look at you, all pointy and stuff.”

Peter comes walking out of the jet and Shuri chuckles, “Yay, it’s my favorite spooder. How are you, Peter?” Peter gives a slight blush as Shuri meets him just off the jet, giving him a big hug.

T’Challa slowly walks up to the group, “Forgive my sister, she’s still re-adjusting to the time change. I think she was living off energy drinks while she was researching possible weaknesses in the Infinity Stones.”

Shuri turns to face the other three, an arm still wrapped on Peter’s waist, “Have you tried Red Bull? It’s sooo much better than coffee at waking me up!”

Aleanna feels the exasperation rolling off T’Challa at his sister’s antics. She smiles warmly at him, “Thank you so much for your hospitality. We hope that together with Wakanda we can finally beat Thanos and restore safety to the universe.”

T’Challa gives a slight bow of his head, “Of course, Wakanda is more than happy to house everyone as we prepare for war against Thanos. Shuri,” he calls to get his sister’s attention, “perhaps you can show those that are ready to their quarters for the evening.” Shuri nods in agreement. He looks to them, “We will have a late meal in the south dining hall if you wish to eat before you retire for the evening. Shuri can show you where it is at.”

Shuri leads Thor, Loki, Aleanna and Peter, along with Legolas, Steve and Bucky. She points to the south dining hall on their way up to their apartments. “If you wish to get some fresh air, I recommend taking the east elevator to the ground level and following the path. Tomorrow morning the Dora Milaje will be training out there for three hours starting at sunrise if you wish to watch. It is also quite beautiful on that side at night, as the lights from the city are nearly completely blocked, so you can see the stars.” She reaches the first of the rooms, motioning for Steve and Bucky, “This floor is filled with our diplomat suites. Each apartment has several sleeping rooms around a common sitting area. Natasha and Clint will have rooms with you. Bruce is already sleeping inside.”

They walk past the next door, “This one will be reserved for your ‘Guardians of the Galaxy.’” She walks to the next door, “The Odinsons will share this room with Aleanna, Peter and Tony. Dr. Strange will be rooming with you. He was looking through the books in the royal library the last time I checked on him.”

Shuri walks through the door, holding it open for them to step inside. The suite has a large balcony directly in front of them. Four doors stand on either side of the shared sitting area. Aleanna smiles warmly at Shuri. “Thank you again, for your hospitality.”

Shuri reminds them once again about the late meal before she excuses herself from the room and closes the door behind her. Peter begins opening the doors on one side of the suite, “Bedroom, bedroom, bathroom, bedroom- this one looks like Dr. Strange was using it.” He continues on the other side. “Same only reversed on this side, one bedroom, a bathroom and two other bedrooms.”

“I will take the single bedroom closest to the balcony,” Aleanna says.

Thor walks towards the other two doors on the same side of the room, “Loki and I shall take these two sleeping chambers.”

Aleanna nods and points to the two across the room, “Then those two will be for Tony and you, Peter.”

“Yes, Ms. Aleanna,” Peter replies and lugs his backpack into the room closest to the door leading to the hallway, opposite the room Thor claimed.

Legolas walks over to the balcony and stands outside, “I will watch for dangers from outside, Sister.” Aleanna touches her hand to her chest and dips her head respectfully at Legolas, he repeats the gesture to her.

Aleanna walks into her room looking over the space for a moment. Loki comes to stand at her door. “Do not plan on spending the night alone, Darling.” he murmurs softly, “I  _ will  _ be joining you.” Aleanna can feel lust and anticipation rolling from him.

Aleanna gives him a bright smile, “It feels earlier than it is. Would you like to go eat, then we can look outside?” The pair join the group in the south dining room. After a delicious meal they walk along the path that Shuri described earlier. Aleanna is quiet, restless.

“Something is troubling you, what is it?” Loki asks her softly.

Aleanna’s eyes flick to Loki’s in surprise, “Thanos is-,” she pauses and gathers her thoughts. “I can feel the war coming. We’ve not much time left before we will face him in what will be the final battle- and all the universe will be on the line.”

They come to a halt looking over a large open plain. “And afterwards, you will leave?”

“I will stay as long as I am able. I feel an urgency, as if time grows short,” Aleanna murmurs. She reaches a hand to Loki’s cheek. He leans into the touch, loosing a contented sigh.

“Would sparring help rid you of your restlessness?” Loki says, “I would be happy to spar with you.”

Aleanna blinks once, then smiles, “I have an idea. Something that is relaxing and enjoyable.” Loki leans down to kiss Aleanna, hoping that she’s thinking what he’s thinking. “Dancing,” she says when he frees her lips. She reaches into her pocket dimension. Loki pulls away with a begrudging sigh.

Aleanna pulls four cubes from her pocket and floats them into the air, making a large rectangle. She walks to the nearest one and brings up a menu, clicking rapidly between screens. She closes out the menus and the walls of a building start growing from the cubes at each corner towards the space between. Soon, the building is fully formed, ‘Little Bit ‘O Mischief’ blinking on a sign over the door. “Shall we?” Aleanna reaches her hand back to Loki.

He takes the offered hand and the two walk inside. As they pass the second door they are greeting by a thumping beat. “It is quite loud,” Loki says in Aleanna’s ear.

Aleanna speaks above the noise, “Illidan, lower music volume by thirty percent.” The music drops in volume. Aleanna pulls Loki towards the dance floor. “You will dance with me, won’t you?” She begins to sway her hips in time with the beat, arms lifted to her sides.

Loki looks around at the ‘people’ dancing around them, “These are artificial people, like your brother?”

“These are a part of this basic program. They will dance, order drinks from the bar, carry on conversations, perhaps try to hit on one another, even cause a bar fight, but that’s about all.” Aleanna slips closer to Loki, still dancing. She hooks her hands behind his neck, tilts her lips up, and kisses him, “Dance with me,” she whispers against his lips.

Loki’s hands drop to her waist and he begins to sway along with her. Aleanna drops her hands, turning around, continuing to dance. She backs up against him, hooking her hands up around his neck again and rubbing suggestively against him. Loki’s head tips back and he groans softly. He then wraps his arms around her and begins kissing her neck. The song ends and a slower one comes on. Aleanna steps forward and lays her head on Loki’s chest. They begin swaying slowly together. Aleanna slowly pulls from Loki’s arms, then leans in to speak to him, “We’ve got company.”

A few moments later Shuri walks into the club followed by Peter and Tony. She looks around in confusion. Aleanna sighs and murmurs, “Illidan, pause program.” The whole room grows still and silent, as all the figures freeze, mid movement. Aleanna slips around the frozen figures, coming to stand in front of Shuri, Peter and Tony. Loki comes to stand behind her.

Tony sighs loudly, “Well, that explains a lot.”

“Sorry about that. I should have asked to use some space temporarily.” Aleanna says apologetically.

Shuri gives a shrug, “Wakanda does not mind you using the space.  _ I _ was confused as to how a whole building appeared out of nowhere.” She scans the room, taking in the bar, the dance floor. “These are all artificial?”

Aleanna nods, “They are. They exist only within the confines of the four cubes I placed at the corners of the building.

Shuri’s eyes flick to the bar once more. “What would happen if I drank one of those martinis?”

“This program is set to allow the consumption of the drinks, they taste just like the real thing. They contain no alcohol though. When you leave the confines of the program, the energy that was consumed will stay with you. The power contained in the cubes is not limitless, however. If enough power is pulled from the program, it will shut down to avoid permanent damage to the cubes,” Aleanna explains.

Shuri nods her understanding. “A handy piece of technology. You’d never have to ‘rough it,’ even out in the wild.”

Tony cuts into the conversation, “Why didn’t you tell us you had this? We didn’t really have to go to Xavier’s school at all. You could have had us training on here instead.” He holds up a hand to stall Aleanna’s protest. “And you can’t tell me that you have no training programs set up on this thing either.”

“The technology inside the Danger Room is made of this world. Mine is not,” Aleanna says sharply. “I would not leave any behind. The use of the Danger Room opened your eyes to the possibility of training in such a way. Plus, we were at the school when we were needed most. Everything happened as it should have.” Aleanna gives Tony a look, daring him to contradict her.

Aleanna can feel Tony’s irritation flare. He grits his teeth then crosses his arms, “And why couldn’t we be made aware of all that up front. You knew that there was going to be an attack on the school?”

“I did not know there would be an attack,” she quickly explains. “I knew that it was very important that we go to the school the day we did. It presented itself as a gut feeling. I have learned to follow my instincts when faced with those feelings.”

“Any more gut feelings?” Tony asks blandly.

Aleanna motions to the building around them, “Taking a night to relax seemed imperative.” At Tony’s continued rigid stance she sighs, “Look, Thanos is coming. Soon. I know not when, but soon. We’ve but a little time to prepare ourselves. So tonight, I am going to dance, burn through my anxieties about what is to come, and thoroughly enjoy myself. Tomorrow, I will work with whomever wishes to train using my technology.”

Tony’s expression softens slightly, “Okay Princess, let’s party.” Tony turns to Shuri, “What’s the fastest way to get the word out to the rest of our group that we’re here and planning to party?”

Shuri claps her hands in excitement, “I’ve just the thing, be back in a flash.” She gleefully dashes from the room, radiating a cheery energy.

Aleanna looks around the packed dance floor, “Illidan, remove all but ten percent of the dancers. Leave five women for each man left in the program. Move them to the side of the room, change their program so they’ll wait for someone to ask them to dance to move back onto the dance floor.” All the figures fade from existence, then several appear at the bar and sitting at tables and booths at the back of the room. “Oh, and limit music to songs and artists that exist in this reality,” she adds as an afterthought. Then, “Continue program.”

Tony raises his eyebrows at the ease in which she changes the program parameters. “We’re going to have to have a talk about the best way to set up training programs for all our people tomorrow,” he warns Aleanna. Aleanna nods her consent.

Voices soon reach them from the doorway as people slowly begin to trickle in. All the Avengers arrive, including Quicksilver. The Guardians slip in behind them, then T’Challa and several of his people. Thor brings up the rear, but quickly makes his way over to Loki and Aleanna, “Brother, is this your magic?”

“Aleanna is responsible for providing this venue,” Loki explains to his brother. “She used her technology to fabricate this building, and these people.”

Thor looks around in appreciation, “It looks like a fine establishment. Does the barkeep serve a worth Ale?’

Aleanna opens her mouth, but Loki speaks before she can, “Yes, the drinks are of the highest quality.” Aleanna feels a wave of smug joy from Loki and she quirks a brow at him.

Thor excuses himself from the pair and wanders to the bar. Aleanna leans closer to him, “You do not plan to tell him that all the beverages are non-alcoholic?”

Loki chuckles darkly, “Let us consider it an experiment. Will Thor react the same when drinking a placebo as he would when consuming the actual alcoholic beverage?”

“Mischief,” Aleanna murmurs, a smile creeping to her lips.

*****

The group spends the next several hours chatting and dancing, drinking, shooting darts, and playing pool. Aleanna yawns, but smiles as she watches Thor scramble onto a table and dance along to the song that’s playing.

Aleanna is sitting on the table of a booth, swinging one of her legs gently. Loki is sitting in the booth, legs stretched along the seat. They are watching the groups mingle. She giggles as Peter tries to show Gamora how to play darts. A dart flies off course and sticks into Groot’s shoulder. He looks up from his electronic device just long enough to pull it out and waves it angrily at Peter.

Tony wanders over and drops into the other seat. Thor’s antics catch his eye, “Why do I get the feeling that Thor’s behavior is somehow directly connected to the two of you?”

Aleanna looks down at him and smiles, “I would not say we are the cause of his behavior, so much as neither of us kept it from happening.”

Loki grins again and leans over to Tony, “Come, Stark, surely a man of science like yourself can appreciate the merits of a good experiment.” Loki’s eyes practically glow with mischief. “If an Asgardian is given a placebo, would his behavior be altered as it would with a true mind altering tool?”

Aleanna slides off the table and leans over Loki, grabbing his hands, “Come, you’ve not danced since we were in here alone.”

“There is a reason for that,” Loki shoots a guarded look at Tony, but shifts towards the edge of the seat. “I do not care to dance in front of others.”

“Just one dance?” Aleanna coaxes. “Then I feel I should get some sleep.”

Loki grumbles under his breath for a moment then grins. “Very well, one dance.”

Aleanna and Loki step back onto the dance floor and Aleanna begins swaying to the music, losing herself in the beat. Loki’s magic flares and then he begins to dance too. Aleanna’s movements slow and she folds her arms over her chest. “You made us invisible,” she accuses.

“And yet, we are still dancing,” he replies and wraps both arms around her from behind, pulling her close as he continues to dance.

Aleanna gives in and begins moving to the music again. As she dances, she brings her whole body back against Loki;  _ High Hopes _ plays over the speakers.

Loki nuzzles her neck, then kisses down her neck to her collarbone. He gives a playful nip and a shudder runs through her. Loki reaches a hand towards her breast when Thor runs into his shoulder, breaking the invisibility and causing them to stumble apart slightly, “Brother, I did not see you there.” Aleanna suppresses a smile. “Would you and Lady Aleanna care to join me in dancing?”

Loki shakes his head, “I think not, Brother. Lady Aleanna and I going to retire for the evening.”

Thor grins at his brother, “I shall join you. We must all be well rested if we are to face Thanos at our full strength.”

“Yes, I dare say you are correct Thor,” Loki gives a roll of his eyes and holds his arm out for Aleanna to take, “My Lady.”

The three walk together back to their apartment. Aleanna places a hand on Thor’s arm, “Good dreams, Thor.” She turns to Loki, reaches a hand to cup his cheek, and gives him a soft kiss. “Good night, Loki.”

Loki gives a pained look, “Good night, Aleanna.” She walks into her room and closes the door. Loki’s eyes following, longing clear on his face.

Thor grins widely at his brother. “I cannot tell you how pleased I am that Lady Aleanna has caught your eye. You have been on your own for such a long time.”

Loki looks about to protest, but shakes his head, “Perhaps, Brother,” he concedes, hoping to bring the conversation to a close quickly. His mind drifts to Aleanna, laying such a short distance from where he is standing.

“Brother, are you listening to me?” Thor asks with amusement. Loki blinks at him a few times, trying to recall what Thor just said. “I asked,” Thor says again, “If you will drill with me on the morrow. I would like to train with someone I do not have to temper my attacks with.”

Loki nods. “Yes, of course.” His eyes flick to Thor, “Forgive me, I grow tired. Shall we call it a night?” He moves to the door of his room.

Thor nods and walks to his room. “Good night, Brother.”

*****

Loki teleports himself, naked, into Aleanna’s room a few minutes later. He looks down at her sleeping form and sighs in defeat. His blood is still pumping from their earlier encounter on the dance floor. He uses magic to shift sleep pants on and to raise a soundproof barrier around the bed. He then sits at one of the chairs in the room, making Aleanna’s cube appear and setting it on the table. “Illidan, build me a playlist of Aleanna’s favorite music that is not from this reality.” There’s a pause and then music starts playing. “Decrease volume by half,” Loki mumbles, he pulls her sketchbook out again and begins trying phrases out on it. Guessing is not going well, so he brings up images he’s previously discovered, lightly running his fingers along the image of Aleanna standing in her prison cell facing Tony. He allows his eyes to unfocus as he gets lost in thought.

There’s the sound of voices and Loki murmurs, “Pause playback.” He clicks the door open and peers out into the empty space. He frowns, closes the door and lifts his magic to build a soundproof barrier around the room, “Continue playback,” he says as he sits back in front of the sketchbook. He sighs, “Pause playback. Illidan, did I just hear Steve Rogers talking on this song?” 

There’s a delay so long that Loki almost rephrase his question, when there’s finally a response, “No.”

Loki scowls, “To whom does the voice that I heard belong then?” 

The response is again delayed in coming, “Chris Evans.”

“The actor who plays Captain Rogers…” He narrows his eyes in thought, “Why would the song have his voice on it?”

Loki waits patiently, and Illidan finally says, “The song is from a fan-made Marvel music video created in another reality.”

“Play the video back for me,” Loki replies. “As I recall, your mistress gave me full music access. Surely that includes ‘music videos.’”

“Very well,” the cube displays the video, and Loki watches it through to the end.

“Fascinating. Tell me, are there any of these videos with myself as the subject? Or rather, Tom Hiddleston playing Loki as the subject?”

“Several hours worth,” the voice replies.

“Take that list of videos and rank them in order, from most frequently played by Lady Aleanna to least, then begin playback.” The first video begins to play and Loki leans back in the chair thoughtful look on his face. “What is this song?”

“ _Say Something_ by A Great Big World,” Illidan replies.

Loki startles slightly as Aleanna drops a hand gently on his shoulder. “You are causing Illidan no small amount of undue distress,” she murmurs softly. “I had not realized I had given you access to so much. Illidan woke me.” He glances over his shoulder and her and she smiles and kisses his temple, “I can see you will not be swayed from watching. Finish your video and come to bed, Loki.” Loki turns back to the video and continues watching. Towards the end of the video is shows Loki’s supposed death on Svartalfheim and him posing as Odin to take the Asgardian throne.

The video comes to a close and silence rules the space for a long moment before Loki finally speaks. “I didn’t know I would survive. That moment that  _ creature _ impaled me upon his blade, I thought was my last,” he speaks in a harsh whisper. “When I woke I pieced together that the combined efforts of his blood and mine had knitted my body back together. Placing myself upon the throne of Asgard seemed to be the prudent thing to do. I would hide in plain sight.”

“You need not explain how circumstances brought you safely through the past few years. I see you.” Aleanna gives Loki’s hand a slight tug, finally coaxing him to stand, “I accept you.”

Loki sweeps the cube into his hand and makes it disappear once again. Aleanna tips her lips up and kisses him softly, walking backwards towards the bed. Loki follows, then wraps his arms around her as the backs of her legs touch the mattress.

Aleanna pulls him, turn them in a circle until his legs are against the bed. She kisses his lips gently again. “Relax. Let go,” she whispers. “No magic, no controlling the situation. Let me please you,” she says. Aleanna hooks her fingers into his waistband and carefully pulls his sleep pants down, freeing him. She gently pushes a finger against his chest until he sits on the end of the bed. Aleanna leans down and pulls his pants from his legs. 

Loki swallows as Aleanna backs up, grabbing the bottom of her tank top and pulling it over her head in one smooth motion. She hooks her fingers into her own sleep pants and slowly lowers them. Loki’s eyes lock onto her hands and the skin they slowly expose. She finally lets the pants drop and steps out of them, standing before Loki in a lacy pair of black underwear.

“Darling,” Loki swallows again, breath coming faster. “If you do not come here this instant I will not be able to resist taking you.”

Aleanna steps forward and Loki plants his hands on the curve of her hips, raw hunger plain on his face. “You cannot cede control can you?” she finally murmurs. “Even with the promise of undeniable pleasure?”

Loki pulls her forward so she is standing between his legs. He gently kisses across her stomach then turns his head to the side and lays it against her chest. He wraps his arms around her, holding tight. “It is hard for me,” he finally admits. The words rumble through her, causing her stomach muscles to contract in response.

“Trust me,” Aleanna coaxes. She leans back and tips his chin up. “Trust that I would never harm you.” She drops another gently kiss to his lips.

Loki nods and loosens his grip on her. He shifts back on the bed until he’s propped up against the pillows watching her. Aleanna drops her panties and crawls from the end of the bed, on her hands and knees until she is straddling him. His penis strains in response to her closeness. She drops a kiss to his lips, tongue darting out to explore his mouth. He moans against her mouth and returns the kiss, hands coming up to wrap around her waist and the back of her head. She breaks off the kiss and rests her forehead to his. She pulls back slightly and Loki reluctantly releases her. Aleanna drops her lips to his once again, kissing down his chin to his neck. She nips him on the neck then kisses the sting away. Her mouth drifts down his chest to his nipples and she licks her tongue around one, making it stand rigid from his body. She nips the other and then kisses down to his stomach. She pauses and looks up at him. He’s watching her intently, breath panting from him. She kisses the head of his penis and it bobs wildly in response.

“Darling, you are testing the very limits of my control,” he warns, voice barely above a whisper. Her gaze drops back down to his engorged penis and she takes him in her mouth. He groans loudly, hips jerking in response to her warm mouth latching around him. Her tongue brushes against the soft skin where the head meets his shaft and he shudders. “Darling,” he gasps. She releases him with a slight pop of her mouth and crawls back up his body.

Aleanna rests her arms against his chest and shifts until his penis is poised at her entrance. “Shh,” she murmurs, “I want to show you something.” She concentrates, pulling the shields from around her mind until they wrap around Loki too. She opens herself to him telepathically, brushing against his mind with hers. He hesitates only a moment, then allows the link. Aleanna’s magic swells and she relays images and emotions to him, showing him her shock at how injured he was when they first met, revealing her feelings of pleasure at him showing Peter how to defend himself, her watching him rest and heal, and her relief that he would be okay. She shows him her first true view of his toned chest and the lust that flowed through her body in response. She holds nothing back, just opens to him, allows him to see and feel every emotion. She focuses on the here and now, letting her love, desire and lust for him flow through their link.

Loki’s magic suddenly raises up to meet hers and their hips surge together in response. Loki can feel his lips on Aleanna’s but also sense her pleasure at his lips locking with hers. She sighs her pleasure and he looses a low groan. Loki struggles to control his emotions for a few moments longer, then allows his feelings to flow to Aleanna through their bond. Lust stacks on lust and desire swells until they both floating in ecstacy. They roll over and over, hands groping and nails scoring each other’s skin. Aleanna feels him pumping into her, but also feels his pleasure as he feels her tight sheath around him. Her eyes flutter closed as the pressure builds in her.  _ No Love, look at me as you come.  _ Aleanna’s eyes pop open as the first waves of her orgasm blast through her. Loki shudders and spills his seed just after her orgasm, no longer able to hold back.

Loki rolls over, pulling Aleanna over the top of him. Aleanna gently shifts, unsheathing Loki and laying next to him with her head on his shoulder. He pulls some of the magic from the air and uses it to clean their fluids from their bodies and to pull the covers onto them. Aleanna hums her contentment, running her fingers along his chest.

Loki kisses her forehead, then looks down into her eyes, “I love you, Aleanna. Forever and always.”

Aleanna tips her lips up and kisses the side of his chin, “And I love you, Loki.”

A wave of smug pleasure floats to Aleanna at her confession, “Well, just remember who said it first.”

Aleanna shifts until she is leaning over the top of Loki, “Truly? Then you must remember who  _ showed _ whom first.” She sends her feelings of love through the link still open between them.

“Perhaps,” Loki cedes. They grow quiet, content to lay in one another’s arms.

A thought comes to Aleanna’s mind. “Loki?” Aleanna begins. “What are Asgardian customs regarding dating, or intimacy? Will your brother think less of us for giving in to our desires so quickly?”

Aleanna can feel Loki’s distaste at thinking of Thor’s opinion, but he finally says, “Had my mother still been alive our relationship may have,” he stops to consider his wording, “progressed slower. As it is, Asgard has been destroyed, our people decimated and reduced to a few hundred refugees.” He pauses to kiss her on the temple again, “They will have to adapt to life here on midgard, and to the cultural norms. And for your people?”

“I was born to human parents. My father would have likely taken you into his office or met you at his dojo, and casually showed you his trophies or metals from fighting, or mentioned his nickname ‘Killer’ or some such thing to try to intimidate you into treating me well,” Aleanna says, a smile drifting to her lips. “Human culture allows for a great bit of misbehavior before a man or woman is judged in too harsh a light.”

“And what of your elvish family?” Loki questions.

“The Elfking would not stand for any common woodelf’s attentions toward me. He made it very clear that I was to be adored and cherished, but never courted.” Aleanna replies softly. 

“Sounds like a very lonely life,” Loki says softly.

Loki feels Aleanna’s shrug against his arm. “As my father, adoptive or not, Thranduil had every right to accept or condemn the relationship of his child. At least according to elvish custom. Honestly while I was in the Woodland Realm my libido was greatly diminished. Relationships progress quite differently between elves. Most elves are drawn quite strongly to one other elf, and then they are betrothed, married. Actually premarital sex is basically unheard of among the elves.”

Amusement drifts to Aleanna through the link, “So, your father would not approve of our… activities.” Loki murmurs to her, kissing the skin of her shoulder.

“The understatement of the century.” Aleanna shifts to face him, “Had we asked _ Eru Iluvatar’s _ blessing - God’s blessing - on each other before copulating, by elvish standards we would be married.” Loki’s face goes completely blank at the thought. He blinks several times, not saying anything.

Aleanna rolls to her side and her eyes drift shut, “As we are in a reality far from my father’s rule, you need not worry about such things. I promise not to trap you in an unwanted marriage. Rest, Loki, we’ve a big day tomorrow.”

Loki rolls to his side to spoon her, pulling her tight against him, “It is not worry, Love, just surprise. Your culture is much different than that which I was raised to.”

Aleanna mumbles incoherently and is soon asleep. Loki closes his eyes and drifts off soon after.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Regarding elvish sexuality- I found information on this on one of the LOTR Wiki pages. 
> 
> The two fan vids mentioned in the story are real. Here's a shout out to YouTube users Selenator Motion Films for making Natasha Romanoff & Steve Rogers|Faded (Restrung) and DarthxErik for making Loki Odinson Say Something. I can't imagine the number of hours that must go into editing these videos. Kudos to those who create them.


	61. Worthy Opponents

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delay in posting this. I hope you enjoy this chapter. We're getting very close to the end now...

#  _ Worthy Opponents _

Loki rolls over onto his back, sleeping peacefully. A few moments later he is aware of a light pressure on his chest. He peels an eyelid open and is met with Sindle’s silver eyes staring back at him.  _ Hungry. _

Loki blinks at the small dragon. Did the small beast just speak to him?

Sindle snorts a puff of cold air at Loki.  _ Hungry! _ He repeats insistently to Loki.

Loki sighs and pulls the covers back, drawing his magic to clothe his naked form. He rests a hand on Sindle to steady him, then sits up in bed. Sindle climbs to his shoulder. Loki focuses on the mental path Sindle has paved between them and gently probes it. It is the barest thread, Loki sends a whisper of his thoughts down the link.  _ I understand. Let us find you some food, shall we? _

Sindle sends pleased feelings back to Loki in response.

*****

Aleanna wakes to an empty bed. She rolls to her side, the sits on the edge of the bed. She yawns and stretches her arms above her head, then stands pulling on clothes with her magic. She walks out to the sitting area. Several carts of breakfast items are sitting near the entrance and Aleanna pours herself a cup of tea. She takes a sip, then smiles at Loki, who is holding up items for Sindle. She drops her eyes to her cup and takes another sip.

_ Yams? _

_ Yuck. _

_ Eggs? _

_ Hmm, yes. _

Aleanna’s eyes jerk back to the two. Her fingers suddenly feel boneless and the teacup slips to the floor, shattering. Her eyes lock to Loki and Sindle, yet she remains unmoving.

“Is something wrong, Love?” Loki glances from the cup to her face with confusion. He walks up to Aleanna.

_ Aduial is surprised. _ Sindle says as if that explains everything.

Loki carefully reaches for Aleanna’s hands, “Aduial?” He murmurs softly.

Aleanna shakes off her stupor, “Upon learning my full name Sindle identified me as Aduial,  _ Twilight _ .” She looks from Loki to the dragon sitting upon his shoulder, eyes narrowing. “He speaks to you. He is  _ able _ to speak to you?” 

Loki gently rubs his thumbs across the skin of Aleanna’s hands, “Yes, Darling. He drew the barest thread of a link between us early this morning. We have strengthened the link considerably in the time since.” He cups her cheek with one of his hands, “Does this trouble you.”

“It should not be possible,” Aleanna mumbles in response. The telepathic link should have only been possible between Sindle and one other being.

_ Why impossible?  _ Sindle thinks quickly to her.  _ He feels as you, you as him. It is the same. The link is just one link. _

Loki shakes his head, “I am afraid that all got sent through very quickly. Am I to understand that Sindle feels that speaking telepathically to me is just the same as to you?”

Aleanna looks at the dragon, a slight frown on her face. “Yes, he seems to be implying that we’re sharing one telepathic link to him.”

Sindle snorts and rolls his eyes.  _ Mate-bond.  _ He thinks clearly to them both.

Aleanna shakes her head, “You are mistaken, Sindle. Dragons may bond in such a manner, but elves and humans do not, and I very much doubt that Asgardians or Jotuns do.” She speaks aloud.

_ Wrong. The same bond. _ Sindle sends a blast of hundreds of images to Aleanna and Loki. Dragons wrapped in each other, magic flowing to each other. Dragons speaking telepathically to one another. The images start to blur into each other for Aleanna. Loki reaches his hands up to his head, the strain on the link almost too much.

“Sindle!” Aleanna hisses and the images cut off abruptly. She touches Loki’s temple gently, magic automatically flowing to soothe away his pain.

Sindle huffs softly and leaps from Loki’s shoulder, landing on the table next to the plate of food Loki started for him. He begins to take bites of his eggs and toast.

Loki looks to Sindle. He uses his magic to clean up the broken teacup and spilled tea, then offers his arm to Aleanna. She takes it and they walk to two seats at the table. “Surely you don’t-” Aleanna stops speaking as a door closes behind her. She turns to see Tony standing outside his door with a bad case of bedhead. “Ah, good morning.”

“Thanks to whomever ordered room service.” He drifts to one of the open seats and drops into it. He piles his plate with an assortment of breakfast foods, then digs in.

Loki touches Aleanna’s wrist, drawing her attention to him.  _ Later, Love. We can discuss everything later. _

Aleanna meets his eyes and nods slightly. She turns to Tony, “So, this morning we start training on my tech.”

Tony swallows his mouthful of toast. “I’m curious- how long does it take for your tech to recharge? How much strain can we put it under? Would we be able to run simulations nonstop for 24 hours?”

Aleanna thinks a moment. “It really depends on how much energy is expelled in each simulation. It may be best to show you the simulations and you can decide which would best benefit the group. Some are more taxing than others. I would suggest leaving the training level set to yellow. It allows for bruising and minor injuries, but will also provide a more challenging workout.”

Thor’s door opens and he walks out in full battle gear. “Good morning Stark, Lady Aleanna, Brother.” He says cheerfully. “Lady Aleanna, I must commend you on the quality of your magic ale. I suffer no crushing headache as I would if I had indulged in the same amount of Asgardian spirits.”

Tony looks at Aleanna and Loki, then stuffs a scoop of eggs into his mouth so his expression doesn’t disclose the ruse. Dr. Strange’s door opens, Strange glances at the group. He drifts slowly over to Peter’s door and taps on it, “Hey kid, we’re going to leave to train in ten minutes.”

There’s the sound of banging from Peter’s room and he flings himself out the door, pulling his shirt over his head, “I’m ready.” He looks from Strange to the group at the table. “I’m ready.”

“Relax kid,” Tony says, exasperated. “You’ll get a chance to play in the simulator.”

Aleanna finishes her food and the last few gulps of milk in her glass. She stands and walks to the balcony. “Legolas, will you join us outside today?”

“Of course, Sister,” He smiles softly.

Aleanna turns to the group, “I will drop the dance club and begin sorting through training programs. When you are ready please feel free to join me.”

Loki finishes his meal and stands to join her and Legolas. Sindle flies from the table and lands on Loki’s shoulder. They walk out of the building and soon reach the club. “Illidan, number of occupants?” 

“One occupant remains in the building,” comes the reply. Aleanna quirks a brow at Loki. “Someone partied all night and shut down the club?” She walks into the building and scans the room. No one is dancing,  _ Spirit In The Sky _ is playing over the loudspeakers.

Loki steps behind Aleanna and murmurs in her ear, “Not really my taste in music.”

Aleanna looks to him, a smile curling over her lips, “Illidan, stop music playback.”

Silence reigns for only a moment before a figure shifts on one of the booth seats, “Hey, I was listening to that.” Peter Quill’s head pop ups.

“Sorry, Quill, retro night is officially over. Combat training will start shortly. Might I suggest breakfast and a short nap, then joining one of the afternoon training sessions?” Aleanna says.

Quill lets his head fall back on the seat and grumbles softly, “Fine. Alright, I’m moving.” He sits up and clambers out of the booth.

“Illidan, end program.” The building fades around them at Aleanna’s command.

Quill shields his eyes from the bright sun. “Sheesh.” He turns towards the diplomatic apartments and shuffles off, still grumbling softly.

Tony, Peter, and Dr. Strange appear just down the path. Aleanna lifts a hand in greeting, then focuses on the cubes floating in a rectangle in front of her. She steps to the closest one and brings up a display. She initiates the program and other three cubes spread out another twenty feet, “This is the approximate limit of the cubes, for simulation space.” She explains, as Tony and the others walk to the edge of the simulation area. Aleanna’s form shimmers and then she’s standing in black pants and a tunic, fighting knives strapped to either thigh. She pulls her sword from the void space, then moves to stand a few feet into the simulator, “Begin specified program.” Large beech and oak trees, dark a twisted, raise up from the ground around her.

There’s a hissing, chittering noise from the trees to her left. She turns raising her sword. An enormous spider drops to the ground next to her, mandibles snapping in her face. She twists back out of the way and slashes her sword at the beast. It hisses and chatters at her. Aleanna feigns left then stabs the spider through the right side of it’s head. It drops. Another spider skitters up and lunges for her. A dagger and an arrow embed themselves into it and she turns, quirking an amused eyebrow at Loki and Legolas, “If you would be so kind as to refrain for a moment, I wish to explain the safety system.” She pulls the dagger and the arrow from the corpse and reaches out to hand them back.

A wave of displeasure rolls over her from Loki. She sighs and waits for another spider, “Currently the system is set to training level green.” A third spider drops to the ground, and lunges for her, grazing an invisible wall. It repeats the move, again running up against the wall and hissing louding in displeasure. “Upgrade training to level yellow.” The spider leaps and pins Aleanna to the ground, her sword clattering from her hand. “At this level the simulation will allow bruising and cuts,” she punches the spider in the head, and it backs away watching her cautiously. “Upgrade to training level red,” she murmurs. Aleanna spins out of the way of the spider, but it turns and catches her shoulder with its mandible.

The spider sinks its fangs into her shoulder and she hisses at the pain. An instant later a dagger is imbedded in it’s head. Loki stands next to her, pushing the carcass off of her. “Perhaps a less visible demonstration?” he says in a tight voice.

Aleanna stands and walks out of the simulation, Loki wrapping his arm around her, supporting her, “The final level is black. It removes all safeties, allowing death.”

Aleanna’s skin slowly seals back together, healing completely. She reaches a hand up and the shoulder of her tunic repairs itself at her touch. 

Tony walks to the long side of the simulation and looks at the forest within. “If Loki had been inside the simulation with you and tossed a dagger, but missed, could the dagger fly from the simulation space?”

Aleanna straightens and moves to the cube, bringing up a list of programs, “The simulation can be set to limit what is allowed outside the space. A weapon can be set to only leave the simulation when an individual leaves as well. She brings up another simulation. Row after row of elves stand in front of her, in full battle armor, “A  _ haran _ of the Elfking’s soldiers.” She turns to Tony, “This is much like a century of ancient Roman soldiers. The  _ haran _ is one hundred soldiers. Traditionally each unit would contain eighty soldiers with sword and shield and twenty archers. This  _ haran _ is currently all archers.” She gives a hand signal and all the archers lift their bows and draw an arrow back in unison. “Our arrows will blot out the sun.” Aleanna jokes, dropping her hand. The archers fire as one and a wave of arrows strikes the invisible edge of the simulation area, fading from existence. Peter flinches at the arrows thumping next to him.

“Holy Crow!” Shuri shouts as she and T’Challa walk up. “I thought you’d all gone insane.”

Aleanna walks to the cube and makes an adjustment. “The simulation was set to contain all the energy inside.” She explains. Aleanna points to one of the soldiers, motions to a slight rise one hundred feet out. She gives the hand signals and the archer shoots his arrow up into the air. The arrow arcing down to the rise and lodging into the ground, waving slightly at the impact. After another thirty seconds or so the arrow disappears.

Aleanna readjusts the simulation parameters. “The system can sustain itself for days of straight run time, if all the energy is set to remain inside the simulation area.”

Shuri rubs her hands together, “So, when do we start?”

“Shuri,” T’Challa scolds. “Let Ms. Aleanna figure out a schedule for the use of her technology.”

Aleanna shakes her head, “I would rather I did  _ not  _ have to sort people into groups and send them through simulations. Tony seemed interested in training everyone with it, he will be sorting and scheduling.” Bruce comes walking towards them down the path. “Hey Bruce, joining the training today?” Aleanna asks.

“Ahh, no. I’m not much of a fighter. Plus, the big guy seems to be on some type of hiatus. I haven’t been able to get him to show himself.” Bruce says. He rubs the back of his head. Tony looks thoughtfully at Bruce. “Anyway, I came to let you know that I got SpaCT set up last night in a lab Shuri showed me, I got a message out to the Statesman this morning. I gave them coordinates for Wakanda, and they’ll be arriving in the early afternoon.”

Tony nods, “Thanks Bruce.” Bruce nods, then walks back up the path.

Aleanna finishes adjusting the simulation specifications. She turns to Tony, “Training level yellow has been set, all simulated objects will stay within the bounds of the simulation. All objects brought into the simulation will stay within it, unless carried out physically. A list of ten simulations are available, difficulty level defaults to level one, please feel free to increase difficulty as needed to provide a challenging experience for the group that is training.” She touches the cube. “Illidan, allow access to this list on this device to Tony Stark. Lock cube location to this spot. Also allow him the liberty to create another training program, following sapphire safety guidelines.” Aleanna motions for Tony to walk closer. “Voice recognition, Tony Stark,” Aleanna waits for Tony.

“Tony Stark,” Tony says after a moment’s hesitation.

Aleanna pats his shoulder, “Have fun.” She walks over to Loki and Legolas. “Brother, what will you do today.” 

The AI looks over at the simulation, “I believe I should stay with the child.”

Loki’s face twists in confusion, “Child?”

“He means Peter,” Aleanna explains softly. “Elves do not fully mature physically until they are at least fifty, and are not considered adults until they are over a hundred. Peter is seventeen years old. Even by human standards that is young. Legolas considers him a child.”

Loki nods thoughtfully, “He is rather young. I wonder at why Tony allowed him to come along.”

“So long as he is here, Tony can see that he is safe,” Aleanna says softly.

Loki wraps an arm around Aleanna’s waist, “So, now that Stark has control of training for everyone, whatever will we do for the rest of the morning.” He steps closer, eyes drifting to her lips.

Aleanna opens her mouth to reply when there’s a loud boom behind them. She spins, a glowing shield forming instantly in front of her and Loki.

Thor stands outside the shield, grinning, “Good morning, Brother. Surely you did not forget your promise of a sparring session this morning?” He rests Stormbreaker against his shoulder, poking the shield with a finger.

Aleanna drops the energy shield and steps towards Thor. “Your axe looks to be a fine weapon.”

“Thank you, Lady Aleanna. Stormbreaker shall serve me well when it comes time to defeat Thanos.” Thor responds.

“Might I see it?” Aleanna asks.

Thor grins widely, and Aleanna feels a wave of amusement drift from him, “Most certainly,” he shifts the axe from his shoulder and offers it to Aleanna.

“Brother,” Loki says in warning. He grabs Aleanna’s wrist, stalling her movement as she reaches for the axe. “Stormbreaker will have been infused with powerful magics while it was forged. Only the most powerful of Asgardians would be able to wield it,” he explains.

Aleanna rests her hand over his on her wrist.  _ So failure to keep hold of the ax would suggest I am weaker than an Asgardian? _ she sends to him.  _ Perhaps Thor needs this test of my mettle _ , she raises an eyebrow in challenge.

Thor looks between the two, axe still raised. Loki sighs softly and drops his hand. Aleanna smiles and reaches her hand out to grasp Stormbreaker. Her power raises around her as she grasps the ax tightly, pulling it from Thor’s hand. Her hair begins to wave around her head and her skin glows with a faint silver white light. She looks over at Loki and he sees that her eyes have switched from blue to silver again. She rotates her wrist, checking the weight of the axe, then hands it back to Thor. “A worthy weapon,” she says in a voice layered with her power.

“Has your curiosity been satisfied, Thor?” Loki tucks Aleanna protectively in to his side, his body absorbing her stray magic. He schools his face as the magic dances with his own inside his body. Aleanna closes her eyes and wills her power to withdraw back into herself. She sighs contentedly.

Thor looks at Aleanna with a frown on his face, “I apologize, Lady Aleanna. You are indeed a worthy ally. The rabbit attempted to hold Stormbreaker right after it was forged and he was not even able to keep his hand ‘round the handle. The axe loosed a bolt of energy into him.”

Loki scans the area and draws Thor’s attention to the Dora Milaje sparring further down the slope. “The end of the warrior women’s training session draws near. Mayhaps we can use their training grounds to spar in?”

The three walk to the training ground, the grass ragged along the outside edge and the dirt packed from countless hours of drilling spent upon it. The Dora Milaje finish their last round of drills and step off the training ground together, walking as one unit towards the central square where the quinjets landed just the previous night.

Thor walks to the center of the packed dirt. Loki reaches his hand up to his shoulder, his fingers touch Sindle’s chest and Sindle steps on them. He turns his hand so the silver dragon is facing him, “You way want to rest over there for a moment, Sindle.” Loki motions to the edge of the training area where a wooden bench sits.

Aleanna is already making her way over to it. Sindle leaps from Loki’s hand, soars across the open space and lands on Aleanna’s shoulder. She unconsciously reaches up and rubs her hand along Sindle’s back, then scratches his chin.

Loki uses his magic to draw his daggers, “Well then, Brother, shall we?” The two begin circling each other. Aleanna makes a series of hand motions and touches the bench, it shifts into a table. She then unsheathes her fighting knives and sets them on the table, pulling her sword from her back, and resting it next to the knives. She reaches into her pocket dimension shifts her hand around a few moments, then pulls out her bow. She pulls out another sword, it matching the one she pulled from her back. 

After a moment’s hesitation Aleanna slides the bow back into her pocket dimension and sits on the ground, removing her knife sheaths from her thighs and shifting them to her calves. She stands and turns to the training grounds. Loki and Thor are smiling and Thor is patting Loki on the shoulder. The brothers walk to the table. “Lady Aleanna, might I see your weapons?” Thor asks with a huge grin. 

Aleanna shakes her head, a smile pulling at her lips, “Very well. There is no dangerous magic swirling through my weapons, only small magics to keep the blades sharp and unbreakable.” She lifts one of her swords out placing it upon two fingers and holding it out in front of her.

Thor takes it by the hilt, turning it in his hand to inspect it. Aleanna lifts her second blade and holds it balanced on her fingers in front of Loki. Loki grasps the second blade, looking it over. Aleanna grabs her fighting knives, one in each hand and quickly changes her grip on them, several times before twirling them through her fingers. She sets them back on the table.

Loki offers her her sword back. She takes it, slipping it into the sheath on her back. Loki motions to her fighting knives. “May I?”

Aleanna nods and Loki picks one of the blades up from the table. He runs his fingers down the script on the side, “This is language of your people?”

“It is,” Aleanna says, looks at the flowing script. “It says _ ‘I phin u-bain idh reniar ben-rad.’  _ Roughly translated to English that is-” 

“ _ Not all those who wander are lost. _ ” Loki murmurs. Aleanna’s brows lower in confusion. “Allspeak provides the translation for all spoken languages, seemingly crossing the bounds of our own reality.” He touches a finger to the other blade, “And this one?”

Aleanna glances at it, “That one says _ ‘Savo ‘lass a lalaith na lu e-govaned vin.’ _ ” She waits for Loki to translate.

“ _ Have joy and laughter until next we meet _ ,” Loki whispers, setting the blade down and taking her hand in his. “They were a gift?”

Aleanna nods, “From my father, given to me the day I left the Greenwood. I believe it was his hope that I would be constantly reminded that I belonged among his people.” She becomes lost in thought for a long moment. Thor murmurs something and draws her from her thoughts. Her eyes flick to Thor. “Thor?” She asks in confusion.

“I said this sword is as well crafted as any dwarven-forged weapon,” Thor says again. “Where did you have it made?” Thor sets the blade back on the table.

Aleanna’s eyes flick to Loki momentarily before shifting back to Thor, “My swords were also commissioned by my elvish father. They are designed to look similar to the blades he wields, if a bit more feminine.”

She runs her fingers along the sword Thor set back on the table. Her sword has cutouts at the back of the blade along the blade ridge, the silver color of the blade accented in copper tones. Aleanna lifts it into her hands and slips it back into the sheath at her back. “So, who won?”

Loki smiles brightly, but Thor speaks before he can, “It was a draw, Lady Aleanna.”

She quirks a brow, “And how am I to duel the winner if it ended in a draw?”

“You and I shall spar,” Loki says before Thor can say anything. “If it pleases you.”

Aleanna shifts her hands and touches the table, reverting it back to a bench again. She lifts Sindle from her shoulder and settles him on the bench, then walks into the training ring, “Ready when you are.”

“Weapons, hand to hand, or magic?” Loki queries.

Aleanna grins mischievously. “Oh definitely hand to hand,” she murmurs. Aleanna loosens the straps of her sheaths and holds them out to Thor. He grabs her weapons and walks back to the bench, sitting to watch the two. She stands in front of Loki, hands at her sides. 

Loki steps closer to her, “You seem overconfident, Love.” He launches a punch at her and she swiftly shifts to the side, easily avoiding the punch.

“Yes, well, I realized that any way this plays out, I win,” she says with a feral grin, dropping low and sweeping at his feet. He stumbles back but doesn’t fall.

Loki moves forward in a series of jabs and kicks, flowing at Aleanna quickly. Aleanna raises her wrists and quickly blocks his attacks. She leaps forward and kicks him in the chest. He stumbles back a step and she lands flat on her back on the ground, Loki chuckling in response. “I am much heavier than you are, Darling,” he smirks at her prone figure.

She kicks her heels up and uses her momentum to flip to her feet. She stalks up to Loki slowly, stepping into his space, her breath mingling with his. His eyes scan her face, then lock to her mouth, his lips drop closer to hers. Aleanna shifts suddenly, slipping a leg behind him and using his weight against him. Loki lands on the ground and Aleanna chuckles. He catches her heel and pulls her off balance, she tumbles to the ground next to him.

Aleanna crawls over and straddles him, crossing her arms and leaning on his chest. “So, Loki,  _ Darling _ , now what?” she asks and raises an eyebrow.

Loki grabs her and rolls her under him. He reaches for Aleanna’s wrist and she blocks his hand, trapping it and shifting her weight, pulling him off balance and rolling them over. She elbows him in the thigh to stun him and slips over his legs, mounting him again, knees hugging his sides.

He grins and wraps his hands around her wrists, pulling her towards him. “Yield,” he murmurs to her.

She chuckles and leans closer to him, “You yield.”

“Whyever would I do that?” Loki asks defiantly, narrowing his eyes at her.

Aleanna pushes her thoughts towards Loki and he opens his mind to her instantly.  _ Because your brother is becoming increasingly uncomfortable. _ She sorts through their lusty emotions and pulls at the string of Thor’s embarrassment and pushes it to Loki. 

Loki’s amusement floats through their bond, followed by confusion.  _ How is it you were able to feel Thor’s emotions? _ A tinge of jealousy accompanies the words.

She smiles softly.  _ Yours are the only emotions I feel as if they are my own. The emotions of others I can pull from the air, if I concentrate, or if they are feeling them strongly enough, their emotions will all but shout to be noticed. _ Aloud she says, “A draw then?”

“Very well,” Loki agrees. Aleanna smiles and winnows from his grasp to stand next to Thor. She reaches out her hand. He blinks and slowly shifts her weapon belts to her. Loki collects himself and climbs to his feet.

“Well fought,” Thor finally says. He shakes his head, “I did not know you were skilled in teleporting as well, Lady Aleanna.” 

Aleanna props a leg up on the bench and holds her sheathed knife against her calf. “I am not,” Aleanna replies. “That was winnowing, or sifting, depending on who you ask. It allows movement over shorter distances than teleporting.” Loki steps up next to her as she slips the strap of her sheath around her leg and fastens it into place. She repeats the process on the other leg and then drops her other foot to the ground.

Loki lifts her swords and holds the sheath to her back. Aleanna smiles her thanks and pulls the straps around her, securing them. Loki offers her his arm, “Shall we?” Sindle stretches and flies over to her, landing on her shoulder then crawling down her body and shimmying into her pocket dimension.   
  


*****

_ Nebula is held aloft in a stasis field, unable to move from her position five feet up in the air. A lone Chitauri henchman works his way through re-assembling her cybernetic parts back into her body. Her eyepiece pops away from her face and he pushes it back in, before moving to her arm to shift it back together. The eyepiece again shifts away from her face and he stands in front of her, pushing it carefully back into place again. He reaches for her arm again and she snatches his hand into hers, tapping the forcefield control at his wrist and breaking his neck as the field releases her. _

_ She drops smoothly to the floor and drags his body away to hide in the ship. She has little time to hide among the troops in the drop ships that will be landing on Earth. This time will be different… she will not allow Thanos to slip from her fingers again. _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> haran = 100 in elvish according to the internet. :)


	62. Healing Runes and Giving Boons

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delay in posting once again. I'm debating on a few details on the end...

#  _Healing Runes and Giving Boons_

At lunch Tony couldn’t stop talking about the simulations the team was able to go through. “-and within a few months time I think I can get a working model running for us at Headquarters,” he said cheerfully to Clint.

Aleanna lifted her glass and takes a drink of water to hide her grin. She turns to listen to Thor and Loki. “All I am saying, Brother,” Loki grumbles, “is that I cannot imagine any place on Midgard that all of Asgard can settle. Your subjects will be scattered throughout this world. And what shall they do to provide for their families? Asgard and Midgard differ very much in their job requirements.”

“Diplomatic translators,” Aleanna says before she fully processes what she’s thought, then blinks. The brothers look at her. She turns to Loki, “Through Allspeak you were able to translate the words I spoke in Sindarin. I would think any individual who is able to so accurately translate would be a great asset to any government or corporation.” Her eyes flick to Thor, and he nods thoughtfully.

“Wakanda will welcome your people into our borders for as long as you need a safe refuge,” King T’Challa says from his seat across the table. “Your people need not worry on how they might support their families. Wakanda will support our allies from Asgard until you are ready to stand on your own once again.”

Thor ducks his chin at T’Challa as a sign of respect, “Asgard thanks you for your hospitality.”

“How long until the Statesman arrives?” Aleanna asks.

“Shuri,” Shuri is watching Gamora and Quill with a confused look on her face. Quill is adding ketchup to everything on his plate and trying to add it to Gamora’s food as well. T’Challa turns and nudges Shuri in the ribs to draw her attention, “Sister, when will the Statesman arrive?”

“Approximately one hour and fifteen minutes from now. Why?” Shuri rubs her side as she talks.

“We need to be ready for emergency surgery,” Aleanna explains, her eyes go suddenly distant. “Heimdall must survive.”

Shuri blows out a breath as she thinks, “A stab wound will be tricky, hopefully we can remove the blade without doing any additional damage. Wakandan medicine is the best in the world, but I do not know if I can keep him alive long enough for the vibranium to kickstart his healing.”

Aleanna’s eyes flash to Loki before she shifts her attention back to Shuri. “I will keep him alive,” she says in a soft voice. “Loki and Thor should be there as well.” She looks to the brothers and they both nod their agreement.

“Very well, let’s set up the surgery room after our meal,” Shuri says. Her attention drifts back to her meal, having gotten their agreement.

Loki drops his hand to Aleanna’s arm. _Can we not use the same potion that you used on me upon bringing me to Midgard?_ He sends to her.

A flash of sadness drifts over Aleanna’s eyes before she can help it and she smiles softly. _I used the last I had on you._ She brings her hand up to cover his. _To get more would be impossible._

Loki frowns at her. _Why would you waste such a thing on me?_

She shifts her hand to his cheek. _How could I not? You were half a step from death when I pulled you from Thanos’s clutches. I almost lost you in the transition from space to Tony’s lab._ She brings her forehead to rest against his. _I do not, for one moment, regret the decision._

Loki pulls back slowly, suddenly aware of the eyes that are drawn to them. He clears his throat trying to think of something to say to distract the group from his interaction with Aleanna. Sindle suddenly sneezes, letting out a puff of air so cold it frosts Shuri’s glass, drawing the attention of those close by. She glances down at it and chuckles, “Why thank you, Mister Dragon. I admit my wine was getting a little tepid.” She raises the glass and takes a swallow amid chuckles from the others.

*****

After lunch Shuri shows Aleanna, Thor and Loki to her lab. She arranges her tools on one side of a surgery table.

“Lady Aleanna,” Thor begins, “I am confused as to why you feel I should be present for this. I am no healer.”

Aleanna looks between Thor and Loki, “Heimdall will likely be confused, disoriented, when he wakes. You are needed to protect Shuri and I should he react violently.” She sighs suddenly, “Plus, someone will have to pull Hofund from his body. I do not care to try to pull the sword, fight it’s power and also keep Heimdall’s body from giving out.” Her eyes flick to Shuri, “Do not touch the sword, Asgardian weapons are unlike those of Earth.”

“No problem,” Shuri says, back turned. She’s working through a series of screens. “Right,” she turns to Loki. “Please stand in front of this scanner.”

“Whatever for?” Loki asks, unmoving.

“Because I wish to have a sample of Asgardian biometrics to compare Heimdall’s to,” Shuri replies tossing a scowl over her shoulder at him.

Aleanna motions for Thor to stand where Shuri indicated, “Thor will provide a much better sample.” She thinks quickly, then adds, “He is of a similar build to Heimdall, his biometric reading should therefore be similar to Heimdall’s.”

Shuri does a quick scan, then frowns and repeats the process, “You weigh over six hundred pounds?”

“Asgardian bodies are denser than that of the people of Earth,” Thor states.

Shuri finishes the scan without commenting. One of the beads on her bracelet starts glowing. She touches it, “Yes, Brother, what it is?” A hologram of T’Challa from his waist up appears above her wrist.

“The Statesman has just entered the atmosphere. They will be landing in Wakanda in twenty minutes. We will have Heimdall to you in half an hour.” T’Challa says.

“Understood, Brother. We will be ready.” Shuri touches the bead again and the image fades from it.

Aleanna twists her hands together. Loki draws her away from Thor and Shuri, “Something troubles you.”

“I am not the most skilled of healers,” Aleanna says softly.

“You seem to have healed Peter just fine when he was harmed in the training center,” Loki reminds her.

“Human physiology is much less complex than Asgardian, plus, I merely sped up his own healing of the skin over the wound. My abilities don’t really lend themselves well to healing. If I sustain too much damage, I just die and come back. It is uncommon for elfkind to pursue healing and fighting skills,” her voice barely a whisper. She releases a soft sigh. “It will be draining, but I believe I can keep him alive.”

“I will admit I do not have a knack for the healing arts either. My-” he cuts off his words, pain in his eyes. “My mother, Frigga, was much more adept in healing than I could ever be,” he finally forces himself to say. “However, I am here with you, and will help however I am able.”

Aleanna smiles towards him, then tilts her chin up and gives him a quick kiss on the lips. “What would I do without you?” she asks softly.

“Surely die of boredom,” Loki quips, giving her a grin.

Aleanna quirks a brow at him and shakes her head. She steps away from him and begins a cross between Qigong and Tai Chi, arms and legs flowing gently.

“What are you doing, Love?” Loki asks softly.

Aleanna lifts her hands in front of her and slowly waves them down again, “Focusing my energy.” She turns and closes her eyes, releasing a small bit of energy and using her fingers to guide it around her.  Loki releases a bit of energy in her direction and it swirls with hers. She absorbs the energy back inside her and flicks her eyes to Loki. They flash silver before changing back to blue.

Moments later the gurney carrying Heimdall comes through the door and Shuri calls Loki and Aleanna over. Aleanna slowly walks to Heimdall, immunities working through her system. She looks down at the gatekeeper, sword lodged below his heart. Shuri quickly runs a scan of Heimdall, “The blade has damaged his liver and almost completely severed the celiac trunk. We must move quickly after we remove him from cryostasis.” She places a few monitors on his upper chest and forehead. “We need to shift him to the operating table,” Shuri says to Thor and Loki.

“Allow me,” Loki says, magic flowing from him to wrap around Heimdall. It lifts him from the gurney and floats him gently to the table. Thor pushes the gurney to the side.

Shuri reaches towards Heimdall’s wound and Thor catches her hand, “Have a care around Asgardian weapons.”

“It is very hard to treat a wound without being able to touch it,” Shuri states in frustration.

Aleanna motions for Thor, “Stand on the operating table. Be ready to pull the sword out. It must be removed carefully, reversing the direction of the thrust, so no additional damage is done to his organs.” Her eyes flick to Shuri, “Once the sword is removed you will need to move swiftly. I know this is not the usual way one deals with a stab wound, but we haven’t much choice since you must be cautious of the sword.” Aleanna looks resolutely at Heimdall, “I will keep his soul from departing from his body until you’ve stabilized him.”

Thor carefully climbs up on the table, it groans under the combined weight of the two Asgardians. He grips Hofund and waits for Shuri’s signal. Aleanna slips a hand into her pocket dimension and pulls out a small vial. She opens the bottle and tips a few drops to her fingers, running them over Heimdall’s forehead. She notices Loki watching her and she explains, “It is oil created from a plant called _Athelas_ by the elves, Kingsfoil by the men of middle earth.” She motions for to Heimdall’s tunic, “Could you-” Loki’s magic quickly removes it from Heimdall’s chest. Aleanna drips three more drops on her hand, stoppering the bottle one-handed and slipping it back into her pocket dimension. A sweet scent raises from the drops on her hand, “Here, you would call it wintergreen or-”

“Prince’s pine,” Loki cuts in. “Yes, I see.”

“Ready?” Shuri asks, then clicks a series of buttons, releasing Heimdall from cryostasis, “Now.”

Thor gently, but swiftly pulls the sword from Heimdall and drops to the floor, setting the sword on the abandoned gurney and turning back to Heimdall. There’s a rasping breath from Heimdall and he raises his arms defensively as he notices the group surrounding him. “Peace, good Heimdall. You are among friends,” Thor says, and Heimdall stills, eyes quickly scanning the group in the room. Thor is standing next to Shuri on one side of the table and Aleanna and Loki are standing on the other. The monitors beep warnings as blood bubbles from Heimdall’s lips.

Aleanna gently sets her oiled hand to the gatekeeper’s chest, “Heimdall,” she says, drawing his eyes to her, “ _Im Aleanna Thranduilion, telin le thead._ ” Allspeak translates the words for the Asgardians. _I am Aleanna Thranduilion, I have come to help you._ She smiles softly and continues. “ _Lasto beth nin, tolo don nan galad._ ” The words are translated in the heads of all the Asgardians once again. _Hear my voice, come back to the light._

Heimdall’s eyes stay focused on Aleanna as Shuri quickly lays devices on him and begins to repair his damaged body. Aleanna closes her eyes to focus, then begins praying, “ _Menno o nin na hon i eliad annen annin, hon leitho o ngurth.”_ Her eyes flick open and she repeats the phrase again. “ _Menno o nin na hon i eliad annen annin, hon leitho o ngurth._ ” Her body is surrounded by a white aura and her eyes have turned silver.

Loki looks to Aleanna uneasily as Allspeak reveals her words; _May the blessing that was given to me be sent from me to him, may he be released from death._

Aleanna feels Loki’s confusion and quickly sends a wave of affection and comforting feelings through their bond to him. She keeps her eyes locked to Heimdall’s, willing him to keep his eyes on her and continues chanting over and over. Heimdall’s eyes roll back in his head and Aleanna sucks in a startled breath.

“We are losing him,” Shuri says.

Aleanna sends a wave of her magic into Heimdall, “ _Lasto beth nin_ ,” her voice raises to a shout, “ _TOLO DON NAN GALAD!_ ” She continues to pour magic into Heimdall, shaking with the effort. Loki steps behind her, one hand fisted over Heimdall’s chest, the other on Aleanna’s mid back. His magic flares and melds with hers. She lets out a shaky breath and focuses both their energies on healing Heimdall. Time starts to lose all meaning as she concentrates on keeping a steady flow of magic coursing into Heimdall. All at once, Aleanna feels the brush of something _other_ grasping gently onto Heimdall’s soul through her fingers.

Shuri whoops with excitement and she pulls her hands back from Heimdall. “He has stabilized. Internal damage is all healed,” she explains as the wound fades slowly from his skin. Aleanna and Loki lean into each other, magic still rolling into Heimdall. He releases a groan and his eyes slowly open. Loki sighs in relief and pulls his magic back. Aleanna tucks her magic tightly inside herself a moment later. They both pull their hands back from Heimdall.

“Hello, Gatekeeper,” Loki murmurs with a smile. “So good of you to stay among us for a while longer.”

Heimdall gives Loki a circumspect smile, “For a moment I felt as though the queen was still among us.” He slowly shifts until he is sitting up. Loki looks to him with understanding in his eyes and turns his hand over, opening his palm to reveal a rock with a rune etched in it.

“Mother’s healing runestone,” Thor breathes, eyes flicking to Loki. “I did not realize she had given it to you.”

Loki grins to Thor, “Yes, well. I suspect Mother knew I would need all the help with the healing arts that she could afford me.” Self-depreciation is evident in his voice. Thor’s lips pull into a smile that mirrors Loki’s, neither says anything more for a moment.

“I’m beat,” Shuri suddenly says, stretching. ‘We’ve been working on him for just under three hours.” Thor registers the surprise on Loki and Aleanna’s faces. “I’m going to see how my brother is coming along with all the refugees. You know your way back to your quarters.” She walks from the room.

Heimdall’s eyes flick to Aleanna, searching, “The All-fathers granted me the ability to see and hear nearly all that happens in the nine realms, but your is not a face known to me.”

Aleanna smiles gently to Heimdall, “I have travelled from far outside the reaches of your gaze, Gatekeeper. And after the war with Thanos is ended, I will again be gone from this realm.” Loki’s eyes shutter at her last statement.

“The words you spoke were unfamiliar to me as well,” Heimdall says.

“A prayer for a soul nearly lost to the world. The elves of middle earth can come back from wounds that can kill a mortal man. My words reflected that I thought your soul worthy of the same grace that elves are afforded. I prayed that The Creator would spare you, that Death would release it’s grasp on you.” Aleanna explains. She smiles one more time before turning from him.

His hand locks to her wrist, stalling her, “I felt the moment my spirit started to lift from my body, you saved my life. I would offer a boon to you. Ask anything of me, and if it is in my power to give, I shall give it to you.”

Aleanna’s eyes drop to his hand on her wrist, then back up to his gaze. “I would ask one thing from you Gatekeeper. Knowledge. Knowledge that it is possible only you possess,” she continues, choosing her words carefully. “Long ago some sort of magical geas was placed upon all of Asgard by Odin. With the passing of the Allfather, I suspect that the geas has been released, allowing for the telling of this tale.” She pauses again, then says, “The boon I would ask of you, is the story of Loki’s heritage. He carries both Jotun and Asgardian blood. Your gaze must have surely fallen upon most all the events leading up to Odin’s concealment of this truth.”

Heimdall sighs, then looks to Loki, and then Thor. Thor takes a step towards Heimdall. “As the burden of the throne, such as it is, now falls to me,” Thor murmurs, “I command you to grant this boon, if you do indeed carry this knowledge. This is a secret cruelly kept.”

“As My King commands,” Heimdall says.

Aleanna slips her hand from Heimdall’s grasp and motions for Loki to take her place. Loki cups her cheek and shakes his head, “I would have you there with me.” He sends a thought through their link. _Share in this unfolding of the truth with me. I would have you know what I know_.

His eyes search her face and she nods, “As you wish.”

Loki feels the eyes of the others on him and Aleanna. He drops his hand and clears his throat, “Right. Let us begin.” Heimdall shifts so his legs are dangling off the table, facing the pair. Aleanna stands in front of his knees, Loki just behind her. He places each of his hands along the back of Aleanna’s and lifts them. Their hands touch Heimdall’s temples and his eyes roll back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My apologies for the cliffhanger. Next chapter has my head cannon for Loki's back story. :)


	63. Meant to Be

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I want to thank all my readers- 20 kudos and 740 views! Wow! You guys rock!
> 
> This chapter is a little bit of my person head cannon on Loki's backstory. Hopefully you enjoy it!
> 
> Please note, I added a little extra space between the scene shifts in the flashback to help keep the transitions a little more clear. :)

#  _ Meant to Be _

_ Two women walk the gardens of the palace on Asgard. The first reaches to her companion and pulls her to a stop at a nearby bench, “And I am telling you, Frigga, there can be no better match.” She looks to Frigga and smiles, her bright eyes the same stunning blue of Loki’s.  _

_ Frigga reaches up and brushes her fingers in the raven locks of her companion, “If you go, I will miss you terribly, Sister.” She places her forehead to the woman’s. _

_ “Lasting peace, Sister, think of it,” the woman’s smile grows watery. “I gladly choose this path.” _

_ “Syn,” Odin stands just down the path from the pair. “It is time, Sister. Say your goodbyes to Frigga.” _

_ Syn wraps her arms tightly to Frigga and whispers in her ear, “You are so good for my brother. I could not ask for a better sister-by-marriage. I love you both. Never forget.” The women break apart, both holding their tears. _

_ Odin motions for Syn and she walks along the path with him. _

 

_ The scene changes and Syn is standing facing a crowd of frost giants. Loki recognizes his father, Laufey standing behind her. He tips her head to expose her neck and sinks his teeth into her flesh. He pulls back after a long moment, blood shining on his lips. “By taking the Queen’s blood in me, she becomes a part of me. Any who would mistreat her in turn declare their wish to mistreat their King. Strength is life.” The crowd repeats “strength is life” back to the king. The flesh around the bite on Syn’s skin is tinged slightly blue. _

 

_ The vision shifts and Laufey and Syn are alone. The giant places a large hand on Syn’s shoulder, “The mingling of our blood, our magic, now keeps the burning cold from harming your skin. This pleases me.” He gently tips her chin up and kisses her lips softly. Syn cups his cheek and kisses him back fervently. _

 

_ The scene skips again and Laufey is standing in front of Syn. “I care not,” he bellows. “How dare they cause you harm. You are my wife, their queen!” He cradles her arm, which is cut. “Today I will decree that whomsoever should harm the queen, may that harm be revisited upon him one hundred fold.” _

 

_ There’s a shift to Odin and Frigga. Frigga has her hand to her belly, which is swollen with child. Her other hand holds a piece of parchment, “Syn is pregnant. She will bare Laufey’s son.” She looks to her husband. “How I wish I could visit with her.” _

_ Odin kisses her and gently places his hand upon her belly. “Traveling the nine realms is not safe for a woman so close to her time. We will wait until our child is born.” _

 

_ The next image is of Frigga gently laying Thor in his cradle, he looks to be a few months old. Odin walks in the door and Frigga quickly goes to him, “You must go to Jotunheim. I have not heard from Syn these long months. Please, I fear something terrible has happened.” _

 

_ They are assaulted by a cacophony of sound in the next scene, angry voices ringing out. Laufey shouts for the guards to stand down, and Odin walks to the throne. Laufey cuts his hand to the guards and they walk from the throne room. “Excuse our lack of exuberation at your presence. Jotunheim is in mourning.” _

_ Odin looks to the empty throne sitting next to Laufey’s, “Laufey, where is my sister?” _

_ Laufey stares at the far wall, unseeing. Odin opens his mouth to ask again, and Laufey speaks softly, “We were quite happy, in our own way. Queen Syn went into labor with my child, our son. She…” he trails off and moves his eyes to Odin. “My love for my lady wife knew no bounds. I decreed that any that would harm her would pay for that harm one hundred fold.” A single tear moves from his eye and freezes on its way down his face. “Syn is dead. In birth, my child claimed her life. Now his is forfeit as price to pay for her death. Kill me and end my pain. I care not for the troubles of this world any longer.” _

_ Odin takes a step back, pain on his face. He slams Gungnir against the ground three times, “I, Odin Borson declare that you shall not be slain this day. You shall live your days in lonely contemplation. The Casket of Winters will be removed from Jotunheim until such time as a worthy heir steps forward to claim it.” He stalks from the room. _

_ Odin steps through the temple gates and walks to the lone child wrapped and laid on the altar. He lifts the baby, scarcely believing this is his sister’s child and holds him. The blue tone of the boy’s skin melts away to a pale creamy hue as the boy looks at his uncle. Odin murmurs aloud, “I thought we could unite our kingdoms, bring about an alliance; bring about a permanent peace.” He tucks the child in the crook of his arm, “Syn, my sister, I am so sorry for how this has played through.” He takes the baby and leaves the temple. _

 

_ The next scene shows Odin walking over to lay the baby into a cradle identical to Thor’s. Frigga walks into the room, and Odin turns, shaking his head. “I am sorry, my dear,” Odin says, “she died in childbirth.” Frigga looks to her husband, then the child and sinks to the floor weeping loudly.  _

 

_ Loki and Aleanna see Frigga holding Syn’s baby who is now several months old. His raven hair is growing longer. “Loki, he will be named Loki,” she says to Odin, who smiles indulgently. When Odin leaves the room Frigga allows her tears to fall. _

 

_ There’s a sense of time moving forward and Frigga is sitting with a young Loki, maybe seven years old. She is showing him a simple magic spell. He successfully replicates her spell and she kisses him on the head, “Go play with your brother,” she murmurs. As he runs off, her face crumples and she cries, sitting alone. _

 

_ Their perspective shifts as Odin talks to them, “Heimdall, I need to speak to you of something. I wish for your honest answer.” This vision is from Heimdall’s own view. _

_ “Ask my Liege,” Heimdall says. _

_ “Queen Frigga seems melancholy still, though I do not see her cry,” Odin begins, “how often is she distraught?” _

_ “My King, she sheds tears for her lost sister nearly daily,” Heimdall says. _

_ “Something needs be done, I will not have my beloved queen forever mourning,” Odin says, mostly to himself. “Thank you, Heimdall.” _

 

_ The next vision they have is distorted, as if clouded over. Odin is standing at his throne, “May the dark magic flow through me. Grant me this; that Syn will be forgotten by all our people, and Loki shall be as mine own son. The Casket of Winters was taken from Jotunheim after a fierce battle with the savage frost giants. I declare that no one from Asgard may enter Jotunheim, so that we may keep this uneasy peace with them. May the details of Loki’s early life fade from the memories of all peoples of Asgard. May Frigga no longer weep for a friend she will never see again.” Odin taps his staff Gungnir on the floor three times and magic rushes out of him. He stumbles hurriedly towards his own chambers and barely makes it to his bed before he falls into his Odinsleep. _

 

_ More memories rush by, Thor and Loki sitting next to Odin’s massive bed, watching him rest for a moment. “Brother, when do you think he will wake?” young Loki asks, “He said he would tell us the story of Grandfather’s defeat of the dark elves.” _

_ Thor rests his hand on Loki’s shoulder, “Mother says that Father’s Odinsleep can last for a while. Let's go see if anyone is at the training grounds. Fandral told me yesterday that he heard there was going to be a lady joining us!” _

_ Loki rolls his eyes, “He would be excited about a lady joining us. Very well, Thor.” _

 

_ Aleanna and Loki see Frigga walk to Odin on a balcony. They both look down at the training grounds below them, “Never has a mother been so blessed.” Frigga says as she stands next to Odin. He wraps his arm around her. “My sons are surely a gift.” She watches as Loki and Thor battle one another, Thor overpowering Loki and knocking him to the ground. Frigga clicks her tongue, “I shall be increasing the time Loki and I spend working our magic together. He can hardly compete physically with that brawny son of yours,” Frigga smiles to Odin. _

_ “He must learn to fight as well,” Odin states. _

_ “And he shall, but he will learn to use all his gifts, including his sharp mind,” Frigga counters. “My dearest child, Loki, shall be the greatest sorcerer that Asgard has ever seen.” The two walk away from the balcony and back inside the castle. _

*****

The visions fade. Aleanna has no idea if it has been minutes or hours. She blinks her eyes open and gently slips her hands from Loki’s, letting them fall to her sides. She shifts in Loki’s arms and turns to look at his expression. Loki is looking at Thor, who waits patiently in the room. Loki walks slowly to him. Aleanna takes a few steps, then stops behind him. “Before I called you brother, I would have called you cousin. My mother was your aunt. She… loved my father,” Loki’s brows pull together and he sorts through everything he’s just seen.

Thor rests his hand on Loki’s shoulder, “You will always be my brother, Loki, no matter what other relationship we might have.” The brothers share an understanding smile.

Aleanna turns to Heimdall. “The requested boon has been given, the debt paid,” she says formally.

He nods his thanks and eases off the table, “I would love a more comfortable place to rest.”

Thor lifts Hofund and hands it to the gatekeeper, “It is good to have you back with us, Heimdall.” He leads the way from the room.

*****

“So,” Heimdall says as soon as they are out of earshot, “This ‘Aleanna Thranduilion’ has caught Loki’s eye?”

“They enjoy each other’s company. I do not know that I have ever seen my brother this happy. They are well-suited for one another, but she will not be staying in our realm much longer,” Thor explains.

Heimdall places a hand on Thor’s arm to stall him, “How is it she travelled here?”

“I do not understand the way of it, only that she is from another reality and has been wandering through several realities in her attempt to travel back home,” Thor states.

Heimdall’s eyes scan Thor’s face, “You trust this outsider?” The two begin walking again.

“She saved my brother’s life, for that I can never repay her. If Loki wishes to make time with Aleanna, I will not impede him.” Thor states.

Heimdall coughs to cover a laugh, “My King, the Midgardians now use that phrase to mean something else entirely from what I believe you are implying… though I suspect that is exactly what he is about.”

“Leave it. Loki deserves a bit of happiness, however short lived it may be.” Thor commands.

“My King,” Heimdall says with a bow of his head.

*****

Loki pulls Aleanna toward him, but she ducks her head, reluctant to kiss him. At Loki’s confusion, Aleanna gently brushes her thoughts against his mind. He opens the link between them, allowing her thoughts to filter through.  _ It feels strange to know there’s someone watching our every moment together.  _ She lifts her eyes to his.

He brings her fingers to his lips and kisses them gently.  _ If you wish, I can shield us from his view, though I find it somewhat taxing to hold that shield for long periods of time _ .

Aleanna cups Loki’s cheek and places a quick kiss on his lips.  _ Do not drain your strength. Please. I would not have you unprepared for the coming battle all because of a few stolen moments. _

Loki hooks her hand into the crook of his arm and leads them from the room. _ And if those stolen moments are all I have to last me a lifetime? _

Aleanna’s eyes cut to his, then lock straight in front of them.  _ I will stay as long as I am able, but sometimes there’s a feeling of urgency, a compulsion to leave abruptly. Please, let us not talk of this now _ . Aleanna’s hand trembles ever so slightly on Loki’s arm.

Loki reaches over and kisses Aleanna’s temple. _ As you wish, Love. _ The pair walk back to the suite that has been given to their group. They walk in to find Tony and Peter chatting amiably in scientific terms. Aleanna suppresses a grin at their animation.

“Aleanna!” Tony says excitedly and she blinks.

“Me,” Aleanna’s grin finally makes its way through.

“I have a crazy idea, but I think it just might work,” Tony says.

“Okaaay?” Aleanna quirks a brow at his enthusiasm.

“When the time comes to fight Thanos, can we toss a  _ haran _ of your elf troops on the front line, use them to blast through as many waves of Thanos’s army as possible?” Tony asks, grinning. 

Aleanna’s brows draw down in consideration. “Would we start with archers?” At Tony’s nod she continues, “We would have to set the arrows to exist outside the simulation for at least a minute so those hit by them receive fatal wounds.” She brings two fingers to her lips, thinking. “When the line falls and the archers are overrun, I would have to set the program to switch to shield bearers or other foot soldiers, but it would work. I am not sure the program could sustain more than the archers and then the soldiers. However, doing this would allow for two hundred expendable soldiers.”

“Well done, Stark,” Loki murmurs. Aleanna lifts her eyes to Loki, a soft smile on her face.

Aleanna’s gaze catches on Legolas standing out on the balcony once again, she starts towards him. “Oh, and Aleanna?” Tony calls. She turns and takes one more step, walking backwards. “We’re all meeting over dinner-” he pauses to glance at the time, “in about twenty minutes- to review our plans for the coming battle. I’d like to present the idea of using the simulated troops then.”

Aleanna nods and takes another step backwards before turning and opening the balcony door. “Legolas,” she greets her brother. “We are drawing near to the time when battle will be waged for the people of this world. I need to ask whether you will fight for the lives here, or if I should close your program out for the time being.”

Legolas looks out upon the land in front of him, “You will fight for the lives of the men of this ‘Earth?’” he questions.

“I will. For the people of this world, for this just cause, I will fight,” Aleanna says softly.

“Then, I will fight as well,” Legolas responds, bringing his hand to Aleanna’s cheek. “Not for the men of this world, but for you, Sister.”

Aleanna takes a step back and raises her hand to her chest, bowing her head slightly and lifting her other hand to her side. “Thank you, Brother.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I grabbed the Norse Goddess of Justice, Syn when I was looking for a mother for Loki. I found nothing online or otherwise to suggest that Odin has a sister of any kind... bummer. 
> 
> Side note- We're about five chapters from the end of this beast. I wanted to give everyone a heads up that I will be continuing the series, and Aleanna's travels will send her to a reality AFTER its TV series was competed. I plan on having her visit the world of Blood Ties (2007 TV Series)- not the crime thriller movie! The series is a total of 22 episodes. The end leaves things open enough that I would it would be fun to drop Aleanna in.
> 
> I encourage you to check it out, since sometime in Aleanna's story she will need to travel to that reality.


	64. A Night of Memories

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: There's erotic elements to this chapter as well. You've been warned. :) You could skip the italicized portion if you wish, and not miss much in the way of story arc.

#  _ A Night of Memories _

Their meal passes quickly, as battle plans are drawn up and forces organized. Aleanna and Loki wander back to stand in front of her door. “Thor gave my room away to Heimdall,” Loki says with a mischievous smile. “He said to cease my foolishness and ask to spend the night in your quarters already.” Loki’s smile turns flat as he says, “He also said that if you decline my company that he would leave an extra blanket and pillow on his floor for me.”

Aleanna’s face splits into a grin at that. “Please, join me in my quarters, My Lord Loki,” she says formally, opening the door and ushering him inside. With a flash of magic she’s dressing in some comfortable pajamas, hair braided back. She sits down on the mattress and pulls out a few pencils and lays them down before her. “There are a few things I feel I must draw.” She gives Loki a pointed look.

Loki pulls her sketchbook out and hands it to her. There’s a wave of his magic and he’s now in sleep pants. He sits on the bed and eases back into the pillows. He then pulls out The Hobbit and hands it to her, “Thank you for sharing this with me. He pulls out the other three books and lays them on the bed, then pulls The Fellowship of the Ring from the top of the stack and starts to read.

Aleanna flips her sketchbook open and lays on her stomach, pencil flashing across the page as she starts drawing. Much later she shifts from the stomach to lean on the pillows next to Loki, continuing to sketch. Loki’s eyes drift to her drawing and his breath catches, he sets the book to the bed.“May I?” he finally manages to say.

Aleanna makes a final line with her pencil then shifts the sketchbook towards him. He looks at the image, one of Frigga teaching him to do magic as a small boy. Aleanna’s drawing has captured the hero-worship in his eyes as he watches his mother do her magics. “Everything I am is laid bare before you,” Loki murmurs.

He flips backwards a few pages and stops when he reaches one with two women, his mothers, sitting on a bench in a garden in the castle of Asgard. He brings a shaky hand up to softly brush over the image of Syn. He turns to find Aleanna watching him. Their eyes lock for a long moment. A rapping on the door pulls them out of their daze. “Err, Lady Aleanna,” Thor’s voice comes through the door, slightly muffled. “That is, I wonder if, umm. Might I inquire as to…” Thor’s voice trails off.

Loki saves Thor from any more awkward fumbling, “You may enter, Thor.” Aleanna looks to Loki questioningly as the door slips open and Thor walks inside, closing it behind him.

“Sorry to intrude, but-” Thor begins.

“But you realized that you did not know whether or not I was to be sleeping here this evening and could think of no tactful way to ask Lady Aleanna without making it sound like a slight upon her honor?” Loki asks with a grin. “Perhaps you will think twice before giving away my room next time.”

Thor tries to stutter out an apology to Aleanna and she raises her hand to stall him, “I take no offense, Thor.” She grabs her handful of drawing pencils and sets them on the nightstand. She then leans forward and pats the foot of the bed gently, “Sit with us for a moment.”

Thor slowly walks to the end of the bed and sits. Loki tips his head to the sketchbook in his hand. “May I?” he asks Aleanna.

She smiles gently to him, “If it pleases you.”

Loki turns the sketchbook around to show Thor the image of Frigga and Syn sitting together. “They were friends. Syn was Mother’s sister-by-marriage, but they were close as any birth sisters could be.”

Thor looks down at the drawing of Frigga and Syn. His eyes become watery. “I am glad to know this history of our family, Brother. Lady Aleanna, you drew this from Heimdall’s memory of the event?”

Aleanna nods, “I did.”

“It looks just like Mother,” Thor says in a gravelly voice. He shifts to his feet, clearing his throat. “I will bid you both good night.” Thor offers the sketchbook back to Loki, who takes it again.

“Good night, Thor,” Aleanna says.

Loki pulls his eyes from the sketch again long enough to make eye contact with Thor, “Good night, Brother.”

Aleanna slips the books into her pocket dimension and holds her hand out for the sketchbook. Loki frowns as he slowly closes it. He finally offers it to Aleanna and she gently pulls it from his grasp, putting it and the drawing pencils away as well. She gives Loki a lingering kiss.  _ You will see the sketchbook again. _ She blinks as she realizes he’s had himself open to her thoughts this whole time, allowing her speak to him whenever she was ready.

He rests his forehead to hers. _ I burn for you. Are you sure I cannot convince you to permit me to shield us from Heimdall’s sight? _ He reaches in and nips her lips, then kisses her once again.

Aleanna pulls back. _ I would like to try something. _ She slips under the covers and lays on her back.  _ Will you please join me? _

She waits as he shifts into the covers and pulls them up to his mid chest. _ If it pleases you. _ He sends back to her. Aleanna places her hand out and Loki grasps it. 

_ Sleep.  _ Her mind whispers to him. _ I will find you. _ She closes her eyes and slows her breathing.

Loki shifts next to her, attempting to settle himself. He feels Aleanna drift off and his mind reaches for her. Her mind pulls him under with her.

*****

_ Loki appears in a forest filled with soaring trees. Aleanna spins around to face him, then chuckles, giddy. She is wearing a long flowing sleeveless dress. Loki looks down at his clothes; leggings and a tunic belted at his waist. He raises an eyebrow at her. _

_ “It worked!” She grabs his hand and pulls him to her, stealing a kiss. “We are dreamscaping,” she murmurs against his lips. She tugs his hand, leading him as she walks the path cut through the forest. “We are in the Greenwood of my memories,” she explains. She scans the area then pulls him off the main path and down a smaller side trail. _

_ They step out into a clearing. A lazy stream cuts from the top of the rocks to drop in a waterfall down to a pool near their feet. A wavering image of the moon reflects on the surface. “My father caught me skinny dipping here once,” her grin is filled with mischief. She releases his hand and takes a step backwards towards the pool. Her hands lifts to her shoulders and pull the straps of her dress over them. The material pools at her feet, and she stands naked before him. _

_ Loki swallows and looks at her with hungry eyes. He pulls on his magic and blinks as nothing happens. “Darling?” _

_ Aleanna smiles sweetly at him, “My dream, my rules.” She steps back into the pool. “You will have to remove them by hand.” She sinks into the water to her shoulders. Her hair floats around her at the surface. _

_ Loki fumbles with the belt at his waist. Aleanna watches him with greedy eyes. He frowns down at it and slowly pulls the clasp free. He reaches a hand to his back and pulls the tunic over his head in one swift movement. “When I have freed myself from these garments, Darling, you shall be punished,” Loki warns. He slips his pants down and his manhood springs free, engorged and bobbing. Aleanna’s eyes catch and hold on it. _

_ Loki stalks into the water and grasps her wrists, pulling her to him. He kisses her thoroughly, then pulls away. He turns, pulling her roughly to the shore and laying her on the sandy edge of the pool. She chuckles and then moans loudly as he lay his body on hers, grinding against her mound. “You are a naughty girl,” he whispers hoarsely in her ear. She shivers in anticipation, breath hitching. “I shall have to punish you.” _

_ Aleanna flexes her hips towards his and Loki lifts himself from her. His eyes scan her face, then his lips drop to her neck, nipping her. He reaches a hand between her legs and rubs a soft circle around her nub. Her breath hitches and she sighs. “Loki, please,” she whispers. Loki slips a finger inside her wet core and her body shudders. She groans his name as he adds a second finger. _

_ “Not yet, Darling.” his lips graze her slightly pointed ear as he whispers against it. “You will have to beg now, Love.” Aleanna’s breathing becomes uneven as she gets closer to her climax. He slips his fingers from her and she groans in frustration. _

_ “Loki, please,” she moans.  _

_ Loki rolls Aleanna over and runs his hand from the curve of her hip to the round globe of her buttcheek. He squeezes gently then pulls his hand back and slaps it against her butt. She gasps, shifts quickly to her hands and knees to look behind her at him. Her mouth is hanging open in surprise. “Did you seriously just spank me?” _

_ “I told you, you must be punished, Love.” Loki says smugly. _

_ Aleanna’s mouth snaps closed and her eyelids lower seductively. “Kiss me,” she pouts out her lip and sits up, feet under her. _

_ Loki grabs her chin and kisses her aggressively. She leans back into him, grabbing a fistful of his hair and tipping her head to the side. Loki drops his lips to her neck, kissing and sucking. He shudders as she rubs her bottom against his length. _

_ Loki pulls back suddenly, breathing hard. He raises a brow at her coy smile, “Nice try, Minx.” _

_ Her smile turns seductive and she shifts forward onto her hands and knees, back arched and privates displayed to him. “I am yours, Loki, take me.” _

_ His penis bobs wildly, lifting towards her, hardening further. With a curse he grabs her hips and plunges into her warm, soft depths. They both shudder as his length slams into her. He pulls back slowly and slides back into her equally slowly. Aleanna moans loudly, muscles trembling. His hands hold her hips in a bruising grip as he increases his speed, pistoning into her over and over. _

_ “Oh, Loki,” Aleanna moans. _

_ “You are Mine!” Loki growls possessively, increasing his speed. Her body tenses as she feels her orgasm build. He lifts one hand to graze his short nails along her back, then reaches under her to rub his fingers against her nub. “Scream for me, Darling.” _

_ She screams his name as her orgasm blasts through her and only his arm around her keeps her from collapsing. Her sheath tightens around him as she comes in wave after wave of ecstasy. Loki shouts loudly as he spills his seed inside her. His hips shudder to a stop he gently pulls out of her and shifts them to the side, spooning her. _

_ “Glorious,” he murmurs into her hair. He feels the sandy ground beneath them change to something infinitely softer and cracks open an eye. They are now in a bedroom and clothed in sleepwear once again. _

_ “My private sleeping chamber, in the Elfking’s domain,” Aleanna explains in a tired voice. “Rest.” _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I want to thank you all so much for reading my story. I'm hoping to get the rest posted by Friday this week- we'll see how that goes... I have another story I'm working on (much shorter) that I wrote with Tom Hiddleston's birthday in mind. I'm hoping to post the whole thing on his birthday. Again, we'll see...


	65. Preparations

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I enjoyed writing the beginning of this chapter so much. Snugly Loki is apparently my weakness.

#  _Preparations_

Aleanna wakes to find herself wrapped tightly in Loki’s arms, pulled so tightly against him she can feel his heart beating against her back.

She breathes out and shifts slightly, attempting to loosen his grip. He adjusts his hold and wraps an arm up between her breasts to hook around her shoulder, “Cease, Love. I shall not let you go. Allow me the pleasure of this quiet, blissful moment.”

Aleanna blows out a breath. “I really had no idea that the god of mischief was such a tenacious cuddler,” she teases.

“Mmm,” he nuzzles his face into her hair. “Spend enough time with me and you will find I am full of surprises.”

She turns her head slightly, ready to say something else when there’s a loud thumping on the door. “Loki!” Thor’s voice rings out. “Are you awake?” Loki finally allows Aleanna to slip from his grasp, mumbling curses at his brother under his breath.

Aleanna flings the door open to find Thor standing there, fist raised to knock again, “Good morrow, Thor.”

Thor takes in Aleanna’s pajamas and well-rested look and she feels something akin to disappointment roll off him. Her brows furrow in confusion as she senses this from him. She motions for him to step into the room and closes the door behind him.

“To what do we owe this honor, Brother?” Loki says contentedly from his position, buried in the pile of covers on bed. Thor takes in the scene and again Aleanna is hit with a sad, disappointed feeling from him.

Thor pulls together his scattered thoughts and finally says, “Heimdall can see Thanos’s forces nearing the Earth. We have approximately three hours until they will arrive. Everyone is beginning to prepare.”

He looks between Aleanna and Loki again. Aleanna sighs loudly, “Can I ask why sadness is rolling off you so strongly I feel as if I should comfort you?”

“Please refrain from comforting my Brother, Love.” Loki’s muffled voice calls out.

Thor blows out a breath and fumbles for words, “I just thought that, seeing as we knew Thanos was coming soon, and well… since the opportunity had presented itself, perhaps you two would… Well. What I mean is. I had hoped that last night you might uhh, enjoy one another’s company?” a faint blush creeps to Thor’s cheeks.

Amusement and irritation war with each other as Aleanna shakes her head. The irritation wins out, “Oh My Stars, Thor! Never attempt to play matchmaker.” She walks over to stand in front of Thor, her shoulders back and spine straight, something akin to righteous fury on her face. “Loki and I very much _enjoyed each other’s company_ last night. We have enjoyed each other’s company on several occasions. Your brother is the most skillful lover I have ever had and has likely ruined me for anyone else in the future. Now, if you do not want uncomfortable answers to invasive questions, I suggest you not ask them. Men!” She rolls her eyes and winnows from the room.

Loki crosses his arms behind his neck and sits up in the bed, smug smile plastered on his face. Thor’s eyes dart to him and then away quickly. His face has gotten even redder and he coughs, then swallows, “Good. Well, good.” He turns quickly and nearly smacks into the door, then backs up and opens it. “I will see you, umm, later.”

Thor quickly closes the door and Loki chuckles. _Most skillful lover you have ever had, Love?_ Loki sends to Aleanna.

Amusement precedes her reply. _Don’t let it get to your head, Mischief._

Loki chuckles out loud again and flings the covers off. He stalks to the door, smile on his face and a spring in his step.

*****

Loki is eating a quick breakfast when movement on the balcony draws his attention. Aleanna is standing next to her brother. He swallows his last bite and drinks the rest of his apple juice. He drifts over to the door to the balcony and stops. The door is cracked open and he can hear Aleanna singing. Her voice raising and falling, dancing in a beautiful song. He stands there stunned, listening. Aleanna’s voice fades and she kneels to the floor of the balcony, hands and face upraised. Loki blinks as he realizes her words were not translated by Allspeak. She kneels unmoving for several minutes before standing and winnowing away.

Loki shifts the door the rest of the way open and walks onto the balcony with the AI. “Legolas,” Loki says softly. Legolas turns a faint smile on his face. Loki frowns, unsure how to voice his question.

“You heard my sister’s heart prayer,” Legolas says. “She will not remember singing it, nor will I be able to repeat it. It is something between her and _Eru Iluvatar_.”

Loki stands there in thought for several minutes before he finally turns from the balcony. He walks in to the room he is sharing with Aleanna and blinks at the massive pile of items on the bed. He looks at the armor, swords, books, weapons, clothes, potions, gold pieces, wands and other assorted paraphernalia with confusion on his face. He spots the sketchbook and impulsively grabs it, magicing it away into his possession, “Darling?”

Aleanna spins around, arm dipped deep into her pocket dimension. “I am trying to find something,” she finally admits. She pulls the at the edges of the pocket, opening it wide, “So help me, Sindle, if you do not produce my circlet this instant I shall leave you behind on the next magic-laden world I come across.”

She scowls and Loki brings his hands to her arms, rubbing them. “There, now, Love. Whyever are you threatening Sindle.”

“He is hiding my circlet and I need it,” Aleanna says sourly. “If I am to be commanding the armies of my father, I must wear it.” She leans towards the pocket again, “And if he does not produce it soon, I shall come in after him.”

Sindle’s head pops out of the pocket dimension and he sighs defeatedly. After a pained look in Loki’s direction he ducks his head back down and pulls a tiara from the pocket. Aleanna pulls it from his mouth and sets it gently on the nightstand. Sindle shimmies back into the pocket. She begins sliding pieces of armor, weapons, potions and books inside. She pulls a pile of clothes forward and stuffs them in as well. She takes handfuls of gold and miscellany and shoves them in until there’s only a small pile of armor and weapons remaining on the bed.

Sindle pops his head out again. _Messy, messy, messy!_

_You should have thought of that before you pretended you could not find my circlet!_ Aleanna thinks to him. Loki raises a brow at the two of them.

“Darling, do you really need a tiara to fight Thanos?” Loki asks, soothingly.

“Do you remember my full title?” Aleanna asks in a low voice.

Loki thinks for a moment, “Lady Aleanna Thranduilion, beloved Princess of the Woodland Realm, Aurielle Aduial, keeper of Gil-el.”

She holds up the circlet, the gem in the center shining with an inner light. “This is Gil-el, _The Bright Star_. Gems of pure starlight are quite rare wherever one might go. This one was entrusted to my care.”

Sindle looks at the gem, eyes covetous. _So pretty!_

Aleanna raises a brow at the dragon and he slips back into the pocket with a snort of cold air. Loki kisses her forehead. He searches the link between them. “You are concerned about the coming battle,” he says softly. Aleanna steps into his arms and drops her head to his shoulder, reassurance pouring from him, strengthening her. He holds her a moment longer then gently grasps her upper arms and pulls back to look in her eyes.

Aleanna sighs and explains, “There were peoples, in ancient Earth history that would bash their shields with their swords, making such racket, that they would intimidate their foes, unnerve them. Battles are won more in the minds of combatants than the actual battlefield. Destroy the opposing army’s moral and you more easily topple them and claim victory.” Aleanna locks her eyes with Loki’s. “Our enemies shall see me and despair, my wrath and beauty will haunt them,” her voice layers with power, doubling over on itself.

Loki’s mouth opens, stunned, as her power rolls over his skin. He shakes off the sensation and absorbs her magic into him, kissing her softly. “I understand, Love.” Aleanna slips from his arms and turns to the armor on the bed. She pulls a fine coat of shining chainmail over her head. Loki runs a finger along the links. “I have never seen chainmail so finely wrought.”

“No, but you have read about it,” Aleanna says softly, slipping out of her sleep pants and into a pair of elvish leggings.

Loki’s brows come together in concentration, “Mithril?” Aleanna nods and Loki rubs the material through his fingers again.

Aleanna slips her tunic over her head. She laces it up tightly along the sides. She reaches for her boots and slips her feet into them. He thinks over her words about unnerving the enemy once again. “Dress for battle, there’s something I must do.” He walks from the room as Aleanna continues her preparations.

*****

Loki and Dr. Strange are arguing as Vision walks up. “You summoned me?” he says blandly.

Strange scowls, “It’s a dumb idea.”

Loki quickly relays his plan to Vision who blinks, “And you want me to carry the Tesseract around?”

“Yes,” Loki says, then shakes his head, “No. I think we should open the Tesseract and remove the Stone. The Time Stone as well.” Loki sighs in frustration. “Three Stones against two seems a smarter way to play things.”

“Let’s say I agree with your logic, what is Vision going to do with the Stones? Do you expect him to just carry one in each fist?

“I have an idea as to what we can do, come with me,” Loki says.

*****

Aleanna finishes a quick breakfast and walks back into her room to make sure she hasn’t misplaced anything from her pocket dimension. Loki calls her name from the main room. She steps silently into the room, “Yes?”

Loki blinks back his surprise. Aleanna stands in front of him in silver armor, layered over clothing of white, grey and black. Her tiara stands out, sparkling against her long silvery blonde hair. She has her fighting knives tucked along her calves, her swords belted at her waist and as she shifts to the side to greet Vision and Dr. Strange, Loki sees that she has a split cape running down her back, leather feathers tucked under the small ornate pauldrons on her shoulders. Leather gloves are tucked under bracers on her wrists. An aura of magical power radiates faintly from her.

Loki refocuses his attention, “Ah, on seeing your belongings laid out earlier, I happened to notice a sort of jewelry that looked to attach to the hand. I was wondering if I could see it.”

“Hold an image of it in your head,” Loki barely has time to comply before Aleanna touches his temple and pulls the image from it. She snorts in appreciation, “Jewelry. Ah, those were syphons. The gems focus illyrian magic. I stole them from an egotistical illyrian bastard the night I left the world he called home.”

“We would like something similar to hold the Time and Space Stones,” Loki finally admits.

She pauses in thought. “The syphons will not help you, as they cannot hope to focus that much power.” Aleanna walks over to the table and grabs a handful of cutlery from it. She twists her fingers together then touches the knives and spoons, changing the metal’s properties. “Who will be wearing it,” she mumbles, her concentration on the flatware between her hands.

Vision steps forward, “Ah, that would be me.”

Aleanna’s eyes flick to his hands and she nods. She weaves magic between her fingers and the utensils rise, metal glowing as it heats. It stretches and reforms, then she stops and holds her hands out, a thin angled metal band floating above each. Her magic holds them there for a moment before giving way, allowing them to drop to her hands. She offers them to Vision, “one set of magic-stone-holding bands, as requested.”

Loki takes one from her hands and looks down at it. “You are sure this will hold an Infinity Stone?”

Aleanna shrugs, “Reasonably sure. They are made of the same metal that Thor’s weapon was forged out of. After feeling the power that was focused inside Stormbreaker, it seemed reasonable to think that it could also hold the power of the stones.”

Loki blinks at her as he realizes she means the godly metal, Uru, but shakes his head and focuses back on the task at hand. He lifts his hand in the air, the Tesseract appearing at his fingertips. Aleanna takes a step away from the device, a look of unease on her face. She grabs Vision’s hand and drops the other focusing band into it. “Slip that on.” Aleanna takes another small step back from the group.

Vision does as requested, then retrieve the other device from Loki and slips it on his other hand, “Now what?”

Loki’s hands glow with a faint green light and the Tesseract raises between them. He twists his fingers and its square form folds in on itself to reveal the blue gem. Aleanna takes another step back, leary of the stone and the alien power she feels radiating from it. “Take the stone, Vision,” Loki commands.

Vision reaches his fingers out to grab the stone and it pulses with power. He shifts it to the focusing band and it pulls from his fingers and lodges itself in the stone setting. Blue power rolls over his hand then up his arm and over his chest. Vision’s eyes close for a moment and he shudders.

“What are you doing?” Scarlet Witch’s voice cuts across the room and she walks to them, eyes blazing.

“Wanda,” Vision says, opening his eyes to look at her. “We are preparing to fight Thanos.”

She frowns as she looks at the bands on his hands. “Why must you carry the other stones?” she reaches a hand up to touch his cheek.

“If not me, then who? I was already carrying one,” he says in a low whisper back to her.

Dr. Strange shifts his hands and opens the Eye, retrieving the Time Stone. “Let’s hope this is the best plan of attack.”

Vision takes the last stone and it locks into the other band. He opens his eyes as the power finishes rolling over him. “Let’s hope,” he agrees.

*****

Tony is walking the plains of Wakanda with T’Challa, pointing out various positions for reinforcements when Aleanna steps up next to him. Tony raises a brow at her. “Hey, Princess. The elves are going to war, huh?”

Aleanna rolls her eyes at the cheesy quip and looks at the black suit that T’Challa is wearing, “Does that version of your suit absorb and redistribute energy?”

T’Challa’s eyebrows lower and he cocks his head slightly. “It does,” he admits, “but how do you know about my suit?”

“Ask me after the battle, if we both survive,” Aleanna replies. “With your permission I’d like to charge it before Thanos gets here.”

Tony frowns at her, “Shouldn’t you save your energy for the battle?”

“I’m not sure how useful I will be in battle, given my oath,” Aleanna says on a sigh.

Confusion is quickly replaced by understanding as he remembers what she’s said about killing, “You still plan on not killing anyone huh?”

“Souls are not mine to destroy,” Aleanna replies.

T’Challa puts his arms to his sides palms open, “I would be pleased to have you charge my suit.”

Aleanna shifts her hands and pulls her magic forward. She holds her hands a few inches from T’Challa’s chest and sends a wave of energy into his suit. “Any idea how much energy it can hold,” she says, still drawing energy from herself to the suit.

T’Challa’s suit glows a bright purple. “I think that is enough,” he manages to say, looking at the suit in concern.

Aleanna drops her hands and allows her energy to fade. Loki appears next to her and frowns as he shifts his eyes from her to T’Challa. “Making use of my powers wherever I can,” Aleanna explains.

“Oh, hey Reindeer Games,” Tony says, “I almost forgot.” He hands an earpiece to Loki and one to Aleanna. “Please wear these, touch a finger to it when you want to speak to the group.”

Aleanna slips hers to her ear and touches it, “What kind of range do these have?”

“Well, I’m grabbing some ammo from the quinjet,” Nat says over her comm, “With fewer trees, it appears that we’ve got a few extra miles to play with on these babies.”

Tony points to a spot at the far edge of the plains. “Move the simulation equipment there, we’re going to open the shield in a very narrow tunnel, pick off the army and hopefully keep from being overrun,” Tony explains.

Aleanna turns from the group, ready to walk back up the slope to the equipment. Loki sweeps her up and teleports them to the simulation area. She peels her eyes back open and breathes deeply, “You enjoy keeping me on my guard that much?’

Loki’s response is a low chuckle and Aleanna’s lips pull up into a smile. She gathers the cubes and raises an eyebrow. “Well, don’t get shy about being my taxi service now,” she says, grinning.

Loki pulls her into his arms and teleports them to the edge of the protective dome. He gently sets her on her feet and drops a smoldering kiss to her lips. Her stomach flips as his mouth slants against hers. They break apart, both panting.

“If everyone’s done sucking face can we get our game faces on? We’ve got less than thirty minutes until this becomes a battleground,” Tony calls over the comm.

Aleanna leans her head against Loki’s shoulder to hide her smile. She reaches to her earpiece, but an Eastern European accent sounds in her ear. “Vision needed a kiss for luck. I can’t help it if you’ve decided your suit needs crazy sight enhancement,” Scarlet Witch replies.

Aleanna shifts away from Loki enough to drop the cubes in a rectangle approximately one hundred feet from the barrier. She sets her program up and takes a step back. The _huran_ of soldiers appear, standing at attention.

Aleanna dips her hand in her pocket dimension, searches briefly and pulls out another cube. She touches her wrist and says, “Illidan unlock the cube.” She sets it on the ground. “This is Firiona.” The cube morphs into a beautiful dapple grey horse, wearing armor that matches her own. She swings her foot over the saddle, mounting fluidly. “If you prefer to ride into battle, your cube houses my other horse, ‘Obsidian.’ I released use of him to you earlier today. If you are finished with him, just ask Illidan to stable him and he will return to the cube.”

Aleanna trots her horse towards a more open area and then raises up in her stirrups, breaking into a gallop. She races across the landscape, then turns to look back at Loki. He’s mounted Obsidian and has tapped him into a gallop. They fly towards Aleanna like a black streak. Loki’s face is split into a wide grin as he sails past her. Aleanna chuckles and brings Firiona to a gallop, racing behind Loki. They race up to the group gathering at the top of the hill, near the city.

Loki reins in Obsidian and turns to smile back at Aleanna. “We should have been riding all week!” he declares eagerly. Aleanna chuckles and shakes her head as she comes up behind Loki.

“Hey kids, you done playing equestrians for the day? We’ve got a war to win.” Tony snarks at Loki and Aleanna.

Loki swings his horse around and crowds Tony with it. “What ever is the matter Stark? Afraid of such a gentle creature?” He grins, then swings down and tells Illidan to stable Obsidian. The cube disappears from his hand a moment later.

Tony rolls his eyes and looks at Aleanna, “You both ready then?”

Aleanna gives a nod. “I am.” Loki sighs and magic peels over his clothing, switching him into his full battle armor. Aleanna looks with approval at the helmet and armor that will protect him.

Loki walks over to her and pats Firiona. He curls his finger at Aleanna and she leans down towards him in her saddle. Loki gasps her by the neck and pulls her into a quick kiss. “Stay safe. Promise me.”

Aleanna’s eyes flutter open as she pulls back and settles back into her saddle, “You have my word.” She closes her eyes and builds a wave of magic, allowing it to float over the troops gathered on the rise.

Tony rubs his arms, “I just got some crazy goosebumps.”

Loki raises a brow at Aleanna and she sighs, “It is called _integumentum,_ and provides an added protection for everyone for the next half hour. It will not turn away a solid death blow, but it will reduce the damage everyone takes.” Aleanna opens her mouth to explain further when suddenly she shifts her attention to the sky. There’s a deafening boom as several landing ships smash into the shield surrounding Wakanda. The shield shimmers and holds fast. The Battle for Wakanda had begun.


	66. Nightmares Made Real

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much to all my readers, we've nearly reached the end of the story. I can't believe it's up over 820 hits! I'm so very grateful that you guys have given this story a chance!
> 
> I found this chapter difficult to write- there's so much action going on throughout the battle. I tried to capture the pieces that would be most important to Loki & Aleanna's story.

#  _Nightmares Made Real_

Aleanna spins Firiona around in a tight circle and races her towards the _huran_ of elvish soldiers. Loki teleports himself to the edge of the soldiers an instant later. Aleanna brings Firiona to the front of the line of elves and raises her sword. The elves raise theirs in response, then tuck them away to raise their bows and nock an arrow. _“Berio i methithar i phain! Tolo,”_ Aleanna shouts, which Allspeak translates to _We must protect the others! Hurry._ Her skin begins to glow with an ethereal light.

Loki opens his comm, “Open the shield we are ready down here.” Waves of Outriders come surging towards the shield, smashing against it and tearing themselves apart. The shield slips open and the first of the arrows are loosed, cutting through a hundred of the Outriders in an instant. The horde surges forward and is again picked off by the archers. A final wave of Outriders die and Aleanna calls for sword and shield. The elves switch weapons and surge forward to meet the line of creatures.

“Princess,” Tony calls through the comm. “We’re opening the second location on the shield. Keep an eye out so you don’t get flanked.”

“Understood,” Aleanna says.

Loki fights his way up to Aleanna, slicing through the throat of an Outrider and dropping it to the ground. Aleanna blinks at the corpse. “Love?” Loki tries to draw her attention. He scans the chaos around them, ready to protect Aleanna. Outriders are starting to crumble the line of elves in front of them.

Her eyes lock with Loki’s. “They have no souls.” Her face turns slightly feral and she unsheathes her sword. Understanding flashes on Loki’s face.

Loki reaches his hand to his comm. “Keep your distance from our sector for the time being.” As he says this, War Machine drops explosive charges near the other opening in the shield wall.

Tony’s confused voice comes to them, “Negative on that. Can you repeat?”

“Keep our people back from this sector,” Loki replies, “The Outriders have the misfortune of being soulless creatures.”

“I don’t see how- Oh!” Tony realized what Loki is saying. “Team, give Sector Twelve-A a wide berth.”

Aleanna twists over Firiona’s back, plunging her sword into Outriders on either side of the horse. She creates a wide circle of corpse around her, and spins around to check on Loki. He is tearing through the beasts, slashing them savagely with his daggers.

The last of the elves fall and Aleanna ends the program and recalls the cubes, tucking them into her pocket dimension. She dismounts from Firiona and stables her as well. With all her cubes tucked safely away she raises both swords in the air and looses a wave of energy at the Outriders in front of her, blasting through the line in front of her, killing everything in a twenty foot by twenty foot arch in front of her. Loki steps up behind her, watching for any creatures that might try to flank them.

Falcon lets out a whoop over the comm. “Nice going!”

Aleanna feels the ground shudder for an instant and Loki quickly snatches her into his arms and teleports them back fifty feet. From under the ground where they were just standing, bursts a line of circular machines with blades spinning around them.

“Threshers,” Gamora explains through the comm. “They’ll tear through just about anything.”

Scarlet Witch flies in and lands a few feet in front of Aleanna and Loki. She raises her hands in the air and her magic surrounds the line of Threshers, pull them off the ground and stilling their motion. She pulls her hands together and the Threshers mimic the motion, smashing into one another, completely destroyed.

Aleanna gives a nod of thanks to Scarlet Witch before the witch flies off in a blur of red and black. Aleanna turns her attention to the next wave of Outriders. Loki raises his daggers and steps up next to her. “Ready when you are, Darling.” Aleanna grins back at him and flips her swords into a reverse grip.

They charge into the Outriders, both ducking, spinning and slashing through the creatures. Aleanna’s movements are smooth and flow from one target to the next, slicing forward in a series of dance-like motions. Loki’s daggers move with precision, brutally slashing through each Outrider he comes upon, slashing their throats or plunging his dagger through vital organs before moving to the next, no unneeded movements, or wasted energy in his attacks.

One of the Outriders creeps around Aleanna and darts in, slashing her across the chest with his nails. Loki flicks a dagger into the creature and it drops. Loki’s alarm is short lived as he sees that Aleanna’s mithril armor remains intact. Both turn to face the line charging towards them.

*****

Bruce charges through the wave of forces to the forest beyond, Hulkbuster suit shaking the ground around him with each step. He slams into Cull Obsidian, who backhands him, suit and all, into a rockface. The systems inside the suit flash warnings across his display. “Yeah, I know, I know.” Cull rips one of the arms off the suit as Bruce charges at him again. Bruce grunts and pushes Hulk to the surface. “Come on!”

“Nooo!” his alter ego says, fading back inside him. Cull kicks Bruce back into a stream.

“Fine. I’ll do it myself.” Bruce waits for the next hit from Cull and he shifts the detached arm of the suit in front of the hit. Cull’s mechanical arm jams up into the Hulkbuster arm and Bruce activates the thruster. The arm blasts into the sky carrying Cull Obsidian along the shield, its energy tearing his body apart.

*****

A burst of light followed by an explosion above them has Aleanna and Loki flicking their eyes quickly to the sky before shifting back to the battle. “Two down, two to go,” Loki says. They both resume their deadly dances, slashing through the Outriders.

Aleanna shifts her attention again, “I am going to check for the other two. We do not want them double-teaming Vision.” Loki nods and concentrates on the group in front of him. Aleanna pulls her magic around her and her feet lift from the ground as she soars through the sky.

Loki raises a hand to his comm quickly, “Thor, if you’ve a moment, I could use a partner at the front line.” Thor lands next to Loki in a burst of dirt and lightning a moment later. He grins towards his brother and flings Stormcaller through the air at the Outriders.

*****

Legolas rapidly shoots arrow after arrow from his quiver. He keeps one eye on the child next to him. Why these “humans” allow one so young to be on the battlefield he does not know, but he vows he will protect the youth and fight by his side. Webbing flies from the boy’s wrists as he disables creatures one after the other. Legolas nods his approval. Chaos abounds as the two fight alongside one another.

Legolas rapidly fires five arrows and downs five enemies. He has used much of the energy in his reserves to make more arrows appear in his quiver so he tucks his bow along his back and pulls out his elven fighting knives. He walks towards the next group and slashes through them efficiently. He looks in alarm as a figure walks behind Peter and raises a scythe to slice through the boy. Legolas rushes towards the two. Peter ducks and then rolls out of reach of the weapon.

Legolas places himself between Peter and this threat. “Come no further creature, I will not let you harm the boy.”

“I am no ‘creature,’ I am Corvus Glaive, Child of Thanos, and I shall be your demise.” Corvus says. He swings his weapon towards Legolas and the elf parries it with his fighting knife. There’s surprise on Legolas’s face as the blade cuts through the knife. He barely has time to dart backwards and drop the knife. It fades from existence as it hits the ground. Legolas spins the other blade and circles Corvus more cautiously.

Legolas slips to the side and slashes at Corvus. He slashes savagely through the fighting knife and continues his swing, thrusting the scythe through Legolas’s torso. “Die.”

Legolas looks down at the wound back up at the Child of Thanos. He pulls on the last reserves of the cube’s energy and his sword appears in his hand. He jabs it through Corvus, who looks down in stunned surprise. Both release their weapons and fall to the ground. Legolas’s form fades and the cube containing his program detonates, crumbling to dust.

Aleanna shouts in alarm from the sky above. Peter looks up to her, then speaks through the comm. “Sorry Ms. Aleanna, it all happened so fast.”

She regains her composure and quickly comms back, “Keep to the back, and pick off stragglers, Peter. Watch for anything that might be headed to the refugee camp. Heimdall is the only warrior guarding the Asgardian refugees.” He gives a salute and turns his attention back to the battlefield. Aleanna addresses the rest of the group, “I believe we’re down to one Child of Thanos, the female, keep your eyes open.” She lifts higher in the air and searches for the last of Thanos’s children.

“Her name is Proxima Midnight” Gamora supplies quickly.

*****

Okoye and Black Widow and deep in battle with Proxima Midnight when Scarlet Witch lands next to them. They circle Proxima and carefully watch her movements. Proxima swings her spear around, batting away Okoye’s and using her own momentum to fling her across the ground in the sunken area they are fighting in. Black Widow runs towards her and Proxima kicks her in the chest. She hits the raised dirt wall hard and lands heavily on her hands and knees, air knocked from her lungs.

Proxima uses her spear to sweep Scarlet Witch’s feet from under her and raises the spear above above her for a killing blow. Scarlet Witch quickly gathers her magic and uses it to send Proxima into the air and away from her. A Thresher flies over the top of the shallow trench they are fighting in and tears through Proxima.

A few moments later Iron Man flies overhead and blasts the Thresher, destroying it. Scarlet Witch breathes a sigh of relief and lets her head fall back to the ground. She brings her hand to her comm, “Proxima Midnight has been eliminated,” she says, in her accented English.

*****

Another ship bursts through the atmosphere and lands in the forest outside the shield. Aleanna turns around midair to watch as it disappears from sight. “Umm guys,” she murmurs. “I think Thanos just arrived.”

She turns her attention back to battlefield and raises her magic. The last line of Threshers lifts from the ground and begins to glow. She pulls at her magic again and the machines burst apart, showering the battlefield with tiny pieces of shrapnel.

“I’m on it,” Iron Man calls.

“Copy,” Captain America calls. “I’m headed that direction as well.”

Aleanna flies closer to the front line, to where she last saw Loki. Thanos steps to the edge of the treeline and raises his fist. The reality stone glows and Aleanna’s magic fails her. She loses the ability to fly, dropping towards the ground. She tugs at the threads of magic inside her and pulls at her nature. White feathered wings burst from her back. They pull open and catch the air, slowing her fall. She moves them in a great gust of air and back flaps, slowing her enough to land near where she last saw Loki. She tugs at the threads again and the wings disappear.

Loki appears next to her, “Are you alright?”

She gives a slow nod, “I will be. We need to help them. Come.” Aleanna tucks her swords back in their sheathes and pulls on her nature again. Tufted ears appear on her head and a tail flicks behind her. “I want to get him to use the Reality Stone a few more times,” she explains.

Loki grabs Aleanna and teleports them to the edge of the forest. Aleanna’s tail flicks in agitation as she lands. She pulls away from Loki and runs towards the sounds of battle.

*****

Iron Man blasts a repulsor beam at Thanos, who uses the Power Stone to absorb the blast. Tony then shoots several missiles at Thanos who uses the Reality Stone to change them into butterflies. They fly away harmlessly.

Iron Man lands close to Thanos and shifts the nanites in the suit’s hand to a long blade. He swings it at Thanos then jabs it towards him. Thanos catches Tony’s wrist in one hand and the blade in his other. He grins at Tony and breaks the blade off. “You are tenacious aren’t you, Stark?” he asks him. Thanos uses the Reality Stone to pull the nanites away from Tony’s body, “Yes, I know who you are. I hope they remember you,” he murmurs. Thanos jabs the broken blade at Tony’s chest just before Captain America races over and jumps through the air, kicking Thanos in the side with both feet.

He lands on the ground, rolling back and then up to his feet. “Leave him alone.”  Tony pulls away from Thanos and the nanites rebuild the suit around him.

“Ah, the soldier. Aren’t you tired of all this war?” Thanos says. “If I win there will not be time for war. Your people will know only peace.”

“You’re a tyrant. So long as you want to kill innocent people, you and I are going to be on opposite sides,” Captain America declares.

Thanos tosses the piece of nanotec blade aside, “Pity.” He swings his fist down and Captain America catches it above his head.

Loki and Aleanna run in to help the two. “Thanos!” Aleanna calls. She darts close and scratches at him. He dodges back and her nails score a light groove along his cheek.

“You aren’t a very nice kitty,” he raises the Infinity Gauntlet again and the Reality Stone glows. Aleanna’s form shrinks until she is a small white cat. She hisses at him and pulls magic from inside once again. Her form shudders, then changes to her more human features. Thanos blinks in surprise. “You,” he says. “Aren’t you full of surprises.” Aleanna focuses a magic blast at him and he twists reality again with the stone.

Her magic changes to air and slowly works its way back from Thanos to her. Her hands start to disappear, turning to air. Aleanna concentrates on changing once again and she shifts back to her elvish self. She wipes a drop of blood from her nostril and uses a small flare of magic to make it disappear.

“Getting tired, little girl,” Thanos taunts. “I can do this all day.” He lifts his hand and the Reality Stone glows once again, releasing a wave of magic to change Aleanna. Her magic raises to meet it, defending her and nullifying the attack.

“Not,” Aleanna says in a weak, but determined voice, “anymore.” Vision lands next to Thanos and blasts at him with the Mind Stone. Scarlet Witch lands just behind Vision.

Thanos lets out a roar of rage and backhands Aleanna, sending her body flying through the forest, her body smashing through branches as she sails away. Loki teleports himself to her side. “Darling,” he gently picks her up.

She shakes the dizziness from her head, “I am alright.” She wiggles out of his arms and turns towards the sounds of battle. “We need to help them, Thanos is still very powerful.” She feels Thanos try to use the Reality Stone again and her magic pulls from her, racing to nullify the threat. She sags against Loki, wiping another drop of blood from her nose.

“You cannot keep this up,” Loki says.

“I will endure it, for as long as I am able,” Aleanna responds.

“Mr. Stark,” Peter calls over the comm. “There’s some Outriders getting through, I can’t keep them all from the refugees.”

Aleanna and Loki see Stark blast through the treeline a moment later, “I’m coming kid. Stay safe. I’ll be there soon.”

Loki teleports himself and Aleanna closer to Thanos once again. Vision hits Thanos with the Mind Stone, then raises the Time Stone and attempts to use it on him. Aleanna’s magic rises and battles against the foreign time manipulation. She doubles over and Loki catches her before she topples to the ground.

Thanos takes advantage of the unexpected distraction and rips the Space Stone from Vision’s wrist. He pulls the stone from its socket and fits it to the Infinity Gauntlet. Scarlet Witch’s eyes flick to Aleanna. “Get her away from here, quickly.”

Loki teleports Aleanna away into the trees again and she sags weakly against Loki as the Time Stone is used once again in an attempt to alter time, her magic pulling from her body to defend against it. “Love, stop! You need to keep your magic from fighting against the Time Stone.

“I cannot help it,” she gasps out. “My defenses have already determined the Time Stone to be a threat. My magic will not be contained while it is present.”

Loki looks at Aleanna, a sense of unease rising in him. Aleanna looks to him, feeling his dread, “Whatever it is, I am with you.” She rests her hand on his cheek. “I trust you,” she murmurs softly. She feels conviction rise in him.

“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.” he says and grabs the mithril knife from her sheath. He swiftly brings it up and plunges it into her chest, the milthril of the blade cutting through the mithril chainmail.

Aleanna’s eyes widen in shock at the sudden pain and she coughs blood. Loki lowers them to the ground gently and rests his forehead to hers. He shakily pulls the knife from her body and sheaths it again. The light fades from her eyes quickly and Loki slams his hand to his comm, “Vision! If you mean to use the stones, it must be now!”

*****

Vision raises the Time Stone at Thanos again, twisting his hand. Thanos ages slowly, his vitaling and strength leeching to become a frail mockery of his former self. His hunches and wisen form shaking with the effort of holding himself up.

Captain America steps forward, pulling the Infinity Gauntlet from Thanos’s hand. “Stop. He can’t do any further damage without his youth and the stones.”

Vision releases his hold on Thanos. There’s a sudden movement behind Thanos. Nebula leaps on his shoulders and plunges her blade deep into Thanos’s skull. His eyes roll back and he collapses. Scarlet Witch gasps in shock at the violence. As the body falls she brings her second blade up and severs Thanos’s head from his body, landing next to it in a defensive crouch.

Gamora and Starlord run up to the group, slowing as they come upon the scene.

There’s a long pause as everyone stares at the corpse. “I could reverse time,” Vision finally says softly.

“No, allow Nebula her revenge. Thanos was a monster to her. She deserves vengeance for what he did,” Gamora says, eyes flicking over the scene, settling on her sister. Nebula meets her eyes then stands a races back the way she came a moment later.

Captain America holds up his hand, gauntlet laying in it, “Now what?”

Vision takes the gauntlet from his hand and turns it over, look of contemplation on his face. He slips it over his hand, the power of the other gems rolling through him. “I understand. It makes perfect sense now,” he murmurs softly, power flowing through him.

“Vis?” Scarlet Witch says softly, putting her hand onto his arm.

Vision turns to her and cups her cheek gently, “I will return, when I am able.” He drops a gentle kiss on her lips and steps back from her, raising the Infinity Gauntlet and closing his fist, activating the space stone, his body getting swallowed by a wave of blue light.

“No!” Scarlet Witch takes a staggering step forward as the portal closes in front of her.

*****

Loki sits on the ground, Aleanna cradled to his chest, his fingers holding her hand up to his heart. Her magic flares. She takes a gasping breath and her eyes meet his. Silver fades to blue a moment later and she smiles to him. “Hi,” she says weakly.

“Welcome back.” He gently brushes a strand of her hair from her face. “Let's never do that ever again.” Pain shows in his eyes. “I do not know that I can stand to see you like that again.”

Aleanna shifts in his arms, sitting upright. Loki climbs to his feet and pulls Aleanna up. “We should go back to the battlefield,” she says softly.

Loki opens his mouth to argue, but shakes his head and wraps his arm around her waist, “You are exceedingly stubborn. Dying makes you weak as a kitten for a time, and yet you insist we should forge ahead into battle.” He uses his magic to clean her blood from her. “Let us see if there is anything left to slay.”

Loki and Aleanna step out of the treeline in time to see Thor fling his axe. It swings through the final swath of Outriders, killing them. Aleanna grins in relief at Loki. “We won,” she says softly. “We really won.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What the heck Vis? :) There's a bit more on that later.
> 
> Also- I will likely post the last chapter and the Epilogue later this evening. I really want to post the Tom Hiddleston birthday story I wrote by his birthday and I have to post the rest of this beforehand to eliminate a few spoilers. There are still going to be a couple of minor spoilers in it, but they're things that have been foreshadowed in this story for the most part. :)


	67. Ada

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here it is, the last official chapter. The epilogue will follow in a bit.

#  _ Ada _

Captain America and Scarlet Witch make their way to where King T’Challa is standing, his warriors gathered near him. Iron Man lands next to him a moment later. “Tony,” Steve calls, drawing their attention. “Vision left. He took the stones, and he left.”

A bright blue light builds a few feet in front of the group and they shift to form a defensive line. “Vis?” Wanda calls softly.

The light ripples and peels back to reveal two figures in blue cloaks, staves in hand. A moment later another figure steps forward, the blue light fading from around him. The blue light gleams against his silver armor. Long light blond hair and pointed ears announce his lineage as elven. “I came here to claim something of mine,” he says in a commanding voice, eyes piercing the gathered crowd. His hands drifts to rest on the hilt of the sword at his waist.

“Three guesses as to who this guy is, and the first two don’t count,” Tony quips softly. He speaks into his comm, “I need Aleanna to my location, now.”

A moment later two figures work their way to the front of the crowd, hands linked. Aleanna turns back to look at Loki, smile pulling her lips back. She stumbles to a stop as she turns again and sees the figure standing before her. Her hand drops from Loki’s, stunned, _ “Ada?”  _ Allspeak translates the word to  _ father  _ for Loki. Aleanna brings her hand to her chest and lifts the other palm up at her side, her face solemn. 

Aleanna’s lips twitch and she breaks into a big smile. She leaps through the air, launching herself into Thranduil’s arms. “Father,” she says, laughing. Thranduil catches her, one arm wrapped around her waist, the other still resting at his sword. He allows his lips to turn up in a half smile. His eyes meet Loki’s and the smile fades, his expression becoming guarded. Aleanna pushes back from him and his attention is drawn back to her, “How did you find me?” she asks, still grinning.

Thranduil motions to the wizards a few paces to either side of him. “The Ithryn Luin agreed to lend their aid,” he explains.

Aleanna looks to them. “The blue wizards? Why would they bring you here?” She looks to Thranduil in confusion. Loki closes the distance between himself and Aleanna and stands behind her right shoulder. Her attention shifts to him for a moment. “Forgive me. Ada, this is Loki Odinson. Loki, my father, Thranduil, the Elfking,” Aleanna says, indicating each of the men.

“Good, everyone’s safe and sound,” Tony speaks up, nanites pulling his mask back from his face. “If we’re all done with the niceties, I think I’ll just take a nap now.” His eyes roll back and he crumples to the ground.

“Tony,” Aleanna shrieks, running to his still form. She lands on her knees next to him. “Tony, wake up,” she says softly, hands shaking. “F.R.I.D.A.Y. where is he injured? You open this suit right now, or I will tear it from Tony with my bare hands,” Aleanna’s voice shakes with barely contained rage. There’s a moment of stillness, then the suits pulls back to reveal a jagged wound to Tony’s side.

Steve sinks to his knees next to them, “I thought I got to Thanos before his blade struck Tony.”

Aleanna’s magic flares over her hand in a blinding silver glow. She brings her hand down against the wound. “Tony, you have to live,” she murmurs. Her magic swirls into Tony’s still form, slowly knitting the wound back together. Her hand starts to shake with the effort of pushing her magic into him.

Loki walks quickly over to stand just behind Aleanna.  _ Darling,  _ he sends through their link.  _ You are killing yourself. You must stop. He’s not breathing. _

_ No. _ She doubles her efforts, breathing becoming erratic from the pain of pulling magic from deep within her. She shakes her head as she glances up at Loki.

He sighs heavily and crouches behind to Aleanna, one hand laid over the top of the one on Stark’s chest and the other on her far shoulder. His magic builds and he sends it through to Aleanna, feeding her his power as she works on sealing the last of Tony’s wound. Thranduil takes a few steps closer, watching Aleanna with a curious look on his face.

Thor gently pushes his way through the crowd and takes in Loki and Aleanna leaning over Tony. “What has happened to Stark?”

Aleanna pulls her hand back, leaning close to Tony’s chest. “Thor, his heart… could you-” she shifts out of the way and motions to Tony’s still form.

Thor frowns, “It may very well kill him if I try.” His eyes begin to glow with a blue light and lightning sparks across his skin. Thor brings his hand down on Tony’s chest, lightning pushing into him and lifting his chest off the ground with its impact. Thor builds the lightning again and reaches down to Tony. Tony lets out a gasp and opens his eyes. Thor jerks his hand back, lightning settling back under his skin.

Loki stands and gently pulls Aleanna to her feet and when she sags against him, he lifts her into his arms. “Loki, I am fine,” she protests half-heartedly.

“You are not fine,” Loki murmurs softly to her. “You can barely stand.” He shifts slightly to face Thranduil. “Lady Aleanna is exhausted. You can find us in her quarters. Thor can show you the way.” He teleports them from the battlefield.

Thor gives Thranduil an apologetic look, “Ah, I am sorry for my brother. He has become rather protective of Lady Aleanna. I am Thor Odinson, King of Asgard. Who might you be?”

“I am Thranduil Oropherion, the Elfking.” Thranduil places his hand to his chest and bows his head slightly.

“The Elfking? You are Aleanna’s adoptive father then? Well met,” Thor copies the gesture back to Thranduil as best as he can. “I am very pleased to meet you. Shall we go to the city and see Lady Aleanna?” Thor motions towards the path to the building.

Thranduil bows his head slightly in agreement. He turns back to the blue wizards. “We shall return momentarily,” he says before stalking off behind Thor.

*****

Loki sits in a chair next to the bed, one ankle resting on the other knee. In one hand he holds Aleanna’s sketchbook and the other is gently running through her hair. He used the barest bit of magic to help her drift off, so she could rest, and heal. Loki had also requested that Illidan play soothing music for Aleanna from his cube, which sits on the desk near the door. He turns the page in the sketchbook and his hand drifts back down to Aleanna’s hair, smoothing it away from her face. 

There’s a noise from the hall and Loki’s eyes jerk to the door. Thranduil stands at the doorway, taking in the scene. His lips turn down slightly. He looks about to object to Loki touching Aleanna when he suddenly scans the room, eyes landing on the cube next to him. “By what sorcery does this device contain my daughter’s voice?” he demands.

Loki listens to the recording for a moment. “I did not know that it was Aleanna singing,” Loki admits. “She recorded herself singing the song so that it could be played again and again. It is not so much sorcery as technology.” Loki explains. Thranduil frowns at that. He walks closer to the bed, taking in Aleanna’s sleeping form.

“Loki,” Aleanna murmurs softly. Satisfaction rolls off of Loki at the sound of her calling for him. 

“I am here,” Loki says, wrapping his hand around hers.

Aleanna’s eyes blink open and she looks to him with a smile. Her eyes shift to Thranduil. “Ada, why have you come here for me?”

Thranduil’s eyes flash to Loki and he speaks to Aleanna in Sindarin, “The wizards ask that the Woodland realm war against the forces of  Dol-Guldur. I asked for their aid in returning you to me in exchange for my assistance. We must leave shortly. This place cannot be your home any longer.”

Loki clears his throat and stands making the sketchbook vanish, “I shall leave the two of you to catch up.” He sends a private message through their link as well.  _ I will return shortly, Darling. _ He sweeps the cube from the desk and uses his magic to tuck it away as well. Loki steps around Thranduil, and out the door.

In the hall he finds Thor and pulls him towards his room. “Thor, please follow me.” The door closes behind them. “Aleanna will be leaving soon. I must ask a favor of you.” Loki draws on his magic and a medium-sized chest appears in his arms. He sets the chest gently on the bed. “I would be remiss if I took the items contained within away from this place. Will you keep this from falling into the wrong hands?” he indicates the chest.

“You know you need only ask. Of course I will protect the chest, but Loki, why would you need…” Thor grasps Loki’s arm and stalls his movement. “You plan on going with her,” he says, as understand dawns.

Loki pulls his arm away and looks a Thor with resolve. “I do not mean to be left behind. Aleanna and I are connected more closely than I ever anticipated. If she will have me, I will go with her.”

Thor holds an arm out to Loki and he and Loki grasp one another’s wrists in a warriors handshake, then Thor pulls his brother in and hugs him tightly. “I will miss you, Brother.”

Loki returns the hug equally tight, then pulls back and smiles at Thor, “I think you will find your companions very much relieved if I am to leave this world,” he says in an attempt to lighten the mood. He sobers, looking at Thor with a softer smile, “But, I shall miss you too, Brother.”

*****

Aleanna is sitting up on the bed when Loki returns. Thranduil turns as he walks in. “I will leave you to say your goodbyes,” he says softly in Sindarin. Thranduil leaves the room and closes the door gently behind him.

Loki walks towards Aleanna and she stands from the bed, closing the distance between them. “You did not tell him I could understand him?” Loki asks softly.

Aleanna shakes her head. They both sit in silence for a moment, then both start speaking at the same time.

“I was hoping-”

“Would you consider-”

A smile creeps to Aleanna’s lips. “Please, go first.”

Loki sits next to the bed. “I hope you will consider allowing me the honor of joining you. I find myself unwilling to be apart from you.”

A single tear falls down Aleanna’s cheek. “I was wondering how I might convince you to stay by my side, traveling with me to Middle Earth.” The two share a smile.

“Your father will not be pleased in the least.” Loki says, a grin tugging at his lips.

“If he wishes me to return, he will have to agree to the terms I set.” Aleanna leans in and kisses Loki soundly on the lips. Loki smiles against her lips and then kisses her back. “Now then, I would like to finish my goodbyes. Do you know where Thor is?”

*****

Aleanna and Loki walk out of the room to the sitting room. Aleanna’s hand is on Loki’s arm. He leads her to Thor’s room and she taps on the door. “Enter,” Thor calls out.

Loki nods his head and Aleanna slips her hand off his arm and walks through the door to Thor’s room. Loki closes the door gently behind her. Thor smiles. “Lady Aleanna.”

“Hello, Thor. I wanted to thank you for your help with bringing Tony back. I had feared we had lost him.” Aleanna says. “This world will lose enough without adding Tony to the list.”

Thor rests both hands on Aleanna’s arms and looks into her eyes, understanding dawning in his. “You’ve agreed to Loki’s request. He is joining you, when you leave.”

Aleanna nods, even though it is a statement, not a question. “If it is within my power, I will return here with him some day. You have my word.”

Thor drops his hands from Aleanna’s arms and takes one of her hands, bringing it to his lips, and kissing her knuckles gently. “Take care of my brother, My Lady. He is more vulnerable than he lets on.”

“I will,” Aleanna says as she nods. She hugs Thor and gives him a quick kiss on the cheek, then turns and leaves the room.

*****

Aleanna walks back up to Loki.  _ Are you packed and ready to leave? _ Her eyes scan the room, “Did Tony get brought up? I should like to say goodbye to him as well.”

_ I have everything I require. _ Loki points to Tony’s room. “He stepped inside a few moments ago, moving under his own power, I might add.”

Aleanna shakes her head, “Stubborn. The lot of you are far too stubborn.” Loki’s lips pull back into a grin. Aleanna moves to Tony’s door and raps her knuckles against it. “Tony, you decent?”

Loki hears murmuring from the other side of the door, but can’t make out the words. Aleanna is shaking her head, but smiling, as she turns the knob and walks inside, leaving the door open.

Tony shifts to sit up further in his bed and grimaces in pain, “Hey Princess.” He carefully eases himself back into a stack of pillows. “I owe you a thank you for saving my life… even if you had to use your ‘magic’ to do it,” at the word magic he raises his eyebrow then frowns.

“I used energy from my body to speed the molecular reconstruction of your cells, temporarily increasing the speed in which your body regenerated your tissues.” Aleanna smiles as she says this. “Does that sound less offensive than ‘magic’ does?”

Tony blinks. “Actually that is somewhat reassuring.” 

“That being said, don’t be surprised if you have the munchies today,” Aleanna warns with a smile. She sits on the edge of the desk by the door, partially leaning on the doorframe. “I came to tell you goodbye. The war for Middle Earth is looming. I must stand by my father’s side. Loki will be joining us when we leave.”

Tony tips his head to the side, indicating she should come closer. She slips from the edge of the desk and walks slowly to the bed sitting carefully so she doesn’t jostle him. He looks briefly at her, then his eyes dart from one spot to the other around the room. He finally takes her hand in both of his, patting the top of her hand. “You did good here, kid. I’ll uhh, I’ll miss you.” His eyes refuse to meet hers for more than a second or two at a time. Aleanna is struck by his overwhelming feels of discomfort at showing affection to anyone. “Well, you better hurry then, don’t want to be late.”

Aleanna rises from the bed as he release her hand. She places a reassuring hand on his shoulder and then leans in to give him a soft kiss on the cheek. She backs up and places a hand to her chest, over her heart.  _ “Novaer. Na lu e-govaned vin, _ Anthony Stark,” she says, then translates softly “Farewell. Until next we meet, Tony.”

Tony mirrors her, placing a hand on his chest, then looks away from her, blinking rapidly. “Ah,” he clears his throat, “Send in the trickster will you?”

Aleanna swiftly moves through the door and motions to Loki,  _ Tony would like a word with you. _ He steps past her and she closes the door behind him.

“Stark, being alive suits you,” Loki jokes. He stands midway between the bed and the door.

Tony smirks at him and then turns serious, “Take care of Aleanna, will you? She kinda grew on me. I’d like to know someone’s doing everything possible to keep her safe.”

Loki nods.

“Thanks, Loki,” Tony says. Loki attempts to keep the surprise from his face as Stark uses his real name.

“I will do everything in my power to keep her safe,” his lips turn up in a half-smile. “You have my word, Tony.” He clears his throat and nods quickly, turning and leaving the room.

*****

Loki falls into step next to Aleanna. She sends a quick thought to him,  _ Please let me handle my father.  _ They walk to where Thranduil is standing stiffly next to the door to the suite. “Ada? We are ready.” Aleanna says.

Thranduil raises a brow at her, crossing his arms, “We?” He looks between Aleanna and Loki, heavy eyebrows coming together in a displeased frown. “Surely you don’t expect this… person to come with us.”

“Loki and I shall not be separated. I will leave it to you to choose whether we will stay here or return to Middle Earth with you.” Aleanna steps forward and rests her hands on top of his crossed arms. “Please, Ada.”

He meets her eyes and his frown fades. “You will stay this time. You will not venture from Mirkwood?”

Aleanna’s eyes light from within. “I shall stay so long as I am needed in your realm,” she agrees. “And so long as Loki has a place among our people.”

Thranduil looks to Loki again. “Very well. He shall be allowed to accompany us.”

Aleanna’s smile bursts through and she lifts up on her toes to kiss Thranduil’s cheek. “I appreciate it, Ada.” 

Thranduil’s eyes flick to Loki, challenge in them. “Anything for you,  _ Iellig, _ anything.” Allspeak translates the word to  _ daughter  _ for Loki as he meets Thranduil’s challenging stare. Aleanna backs up to smile up at her father, forcing him to break the staring contest. His eyes dip to Aleanna’s and he motions to the door. “Let us make haste. The Ithryn Luin did not want to tarry here longer than they had to.”

Aleanna reaches a hand out to Loki and they walk from the suite, leading the way back down to the Blue Wizards. Aleanna stops as they draw near. There’s a boom as Thor lands next to them. He wraps his brother in yet another hug, “Goodbye, Brother.” He pulls back and looks him in the eyes, _ “If you don’t live for something…” _

_ “Then you die for nothing,” _ Loki finishes the old saying.

_ “We are our deeds,” _ Thor murmurs to him in response. He reaches over and grabs Aleanna off her feet in a big hug. “I hold you to your promise, M’Lady,” he murmurs softly to her. “My brother is very dear to me.”

Aleanna nods her head, pushing against Thor slightly so he releases her. Loki pulls her to him, wrapping an arm around her waist. “Enough Thor. We must away.” Thor nods once more and takes several steps back to give them space.

Aleanna shifts her attention to her wrist. “Illidan, dormancy mode, authorization Aleanna Thranduilion O’Dae,” she places her thumb firmly on the bracelet.

“Dormancy mode activated,” the voice says. The bracelet at her wrist melts into being and she pulls it off, slipping it into her pocket dimension. Loki gives her a questioning look. “Middle Earth has next to no technology. It is a world primarily magical in nature. Illidan will not function there. She pulls the comm from her ear and drops it into the pocket dimension as well.

“What do you do when you reach a non-magical world?” Loki says, indicating her pocket dimension.

Aleanna indicates her other side. “I use my void space. The two meet.” She reaches into that side and digs around for a moment, then pulls the comm out to show Loki. He raises a brow.  _ Sindle generally stays in the pocket dimension for travel, sleeping in his metal form just to be on the safe side. Please do not mention him to my father. He does not know of Sindle’s existence, nor will he be pleased to have him around. Thranduil has no love for dragons. _

_ As you wish, Love.  _ Loki smirks in Thranduil’s direction then schools his face and Thranduil looks at the two of them. Loki pulls the comm from his own ear and makes it vanish. “We are ready,” he says to the Elfking.

Thranduil stands between the wizards, Aleanna and Loki walk to join him, hands still linked together. Aleanna raises a hand in farewell to the crowd still gathered. Aleanna is surprised to see that the efforts to clear the corpse of the Outriders are nearly completed. She feels a tingling sensation run over the skin of her neck. Aleanna raises her eyes to the sky, “Goodbye, Gatekeeper,” she says softly. Her attention flicks back to the Blue Wizards.

“Pull your magic tight inside you,” one of the wizards says.

“We must not have errant magic flares pulling us off course,” the other says. 

Aleanna pulls her magic deep, next to her, she can feel Loki do the same. Slowly their magic compresses down to their cores, dim embers of what it usually is. Aleanna feels the strand connecting her to Loki pulled to a thin line. It feels like woven mithril thread, strong and flexible. “Will this do?” Aleanna asks, unsure if she and Loki and can even pull that magical link inside.

The wizards share a look. “We can work around it,” one finally speaks.

“Please, do not move,” the other says.

Loki grips Aleanna’s hand more firmly. Aleanna realizes he’s uncomfortable with the idea of having someone else transport him. She sends comforting feelings through their link.

Blue light forms around the five travelers, becoming too bright to look at. When the light fades all five are gone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all so your company in this journey through Loki and Aleanna's story. Please note that at this time I'm hoping to provide two more books in this series, so please be watching. :)


	68. Possession is Nine-Tenths (Epilogue)

#  _ Possession is Nine-Tenths (Epilogue)  _

_ Vision makes his way up the path cut through the mountain. As he nears the top, a spectre appears in front of him. “Welcome Vision, child of the Mind Stone,” its voice echoes unnaturally. _

_ Vision nods to the creature, “I am here for the Soul Stone.” _

_ The spectre motions him forward, “You must know, the soul stone extracts a terrible price.” _

_ “I am prepared to pay what price I must,” Vision replies. _

_ “Perhaps,” is all the spectre says in return. _

_ They follow the last of the stairs cut into the mountainside to the platform built into the top of the mountain. “Straight ahead is what you seek, and what you fear,” the voice echoes hollowly. “The soul holds a special place among the Infinity Stones. To ensure that whoever possesses it understands its power, the stone demands a sacrifice. If you wish to take the stone, you must give up that which you love.” _

_ Vision stands looking down at over the cliff edge, eyes searching the ground far below. “And if I demand the stone, by right of might?” He raises his hands, showing the gauntlet and wristband then indicates his forehead. “You said yourself, I am of the mind stone, surely there can be no better wielder for the Stones.” _

_ “Be that as it may, a sacrifice must still be made,” the spectre rasps to him. _

_ Vision lifts his eyes from the ground, thousands of feet below. “Then I offer everything I have, everything I am,” he says softly. “I love this life that the Mind Stone has granted me,” his thoughts drift to Wanda, to the love they shared for one another. Love made possible because he was a living being, not just a sentient bit of stone, “I offer myself as sacrifice.” He relaxes his muscles and allows himself to fall from the ledge, gravity taking him.  _ Forgive me Wanda, _ he thinks as he nears the ground. _

_ ***** _

_ Vision opens his eyes. He is gently floating in water. He sits up, the mountain silhouetted in a light blue glow behind him. He slowly opens his hand to reveal the Soul Stone in his hand. “Yes, I understand,” he murmurs softly. “It’s up to me now.” _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The End of Book One. :) 
> 
> Thank you again, readers. As I write this (Feb. 9, 2019) the story has reached 23 Kudos, 9 bookmarks, and 847 hits. It has been fun writing it, and I hope it was fun reading it as well. Thank you for taking the time to read to the end. If you enjoyed the story, please drop a note in the comments. If you found a particular part or character funny, I'd love to hear about that as well.
> 
> I didn't get a chance to flesh out every single idea I had for this book (eg. Deadpool can somewhat sense people watching from other realities, Black Panther using the super-charged suit to blast through a huge force of the Outriders, etc.) but I think that's pretty typical for writing through something without sending it through the editing process several times.
> 
> Thanks Readers. XOXO ~M3


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